What the dustmen found
by slytherinsal
Summary: When Vernon Dursley goes further than usual, a scandal arises in Privet Drive. However, the walrus didn't manage to complete the job. Severus Snape, chosen by Dumbldore as a replacement abuser, has a small epiphany and sets out to do some manipulation of his own. Rated for the early abuse.


_**Whilst suffering a M.E. relapse I wrote a number of Harry Potter novellas, in which a minor change to canon can lead to a massive change. Here's the first, and I thought I'd post the lot rather than make you wait. This one is based on a news story I read about a real child. One who was not as lucky as Harry.**_

 **Chapter 1**

The silence of Privet Drive was shattered by an audial assault which was a weekly necessary evil. The dustmen were coming.

Because Privet Drive was suburbia of the most suburban, the dust carts had cleared the lower class areas first so that the commuters from suberbia could be away before the dustcart arrived. It made it easier to have their cars gone, even though they mostly had garages and drives, getting them out of the way was handy. Only the housewives who did not have a 'naice' job three days a week for 'personal fulfilment' had to put up with the dustcarts, which made them less well off than their poorer counterparts, who usually held down two jobs to help their husbands pay the bills.

Bert swung off the back of the cart and went to grab the bins from numbers 2 and 4 while Jimmy went to 1 and 3. Fred started up the masher. Bert frowned. Number 4 had its lid slightly open, and it smelled bad. Not like the householders to do that, and no chance they would tip well at Christmas to make up for inconvenience, not like the batty old dear with cats, who had cat litter and ash from her fire and dropped the team a tenner every holiday. Bert sighed, and lifted the lid; the machine didn't like them to drop too quickly.

What he saw made him give a yell, and run to the appliance to hit the panic button.

"Fred, radio in and get the fuzz, we got a DB," he shouted. "Kid of about 3 or 4!"

"Gawdstrewf," said Fred, startled out of his usual phlegmatic mien. He picked up the radio. "Cart firty-six 'ere, boss, we gotta problem ….."

OoOoOo

It was not long before Privet drive was swarming with 'jam sandwiches'* full of police officers, some of them armed, and the curtains of the stay-at-home wives were twitching like mad. Except that of Arabella Figg who was merely reporting that she had mislaid Mundungus Fletcher, and was having difficulty getting Dumbledore to either listen or take her very seriously. A van screeched up and several SOCOs** poured out. The curtains twitched frantically. Most of the residents of Privet Drive had never seen a Scenes of Crime Officer, as there were too many busy-bodies too busy to make breaking and entering worthwhile, but not busy enough to prevent abuse to a little boy, since that wasn't 'naice' and so should be ignored.

The SOCO who opened the lid was a young woman who swallowed hard and looked down.

A pair of green eyes opened painfully and gazed up at her.

"MEDIC!" Screeched Juliet Victor. "And send for the ambulance, we have a live one!"

The evidence in the dustbin would have to be compromised, saving the kid came first, and she gently lifted him out. The child was emaciated to the point of starvation and had a cut on his forehead which had oozed some horrible black pus, and had a bruise which Juliet's trained eyes guessed to be from the corner of a table. A bruise on the opposite cheekbone suggested a child hit with enough force to slam him into a table. How he was still alive was a miracle.

The team medic brought a blanket to wrap the child, did a quick skin-response test, and hooked up an IV unit to get fluids into the little boy.

"What's your name, son?" asked Juliet, gently. "I need to take scrapings from under your nails."

"I don't have a name," said the child. "Freaks don't have names."

Social Services were going to have a field day here, thought Juliet. And so much for the prominently displayed 'Neighbourhood Watch' signs; this much abuse had not happened overnight; surely the neighbours had seen an emaciated kid in clothes way too big for him? Well, there would doubtless be questions asked. She had the victim to process and would be riding to the hospital with him.

OoOoOo

It took a while for the news to reach the Wizarding world, by which time Harry Potter was in hospital, Social Services were aware, and the police were all over Privet Drive, the Dursleys were in separate interrogation rooms, and Dudley was in a secure unit for children with behaviour problems.

Dumbledore looked around the Order of the Phoenix and his trademark twinkle was missing.

"Too many muggles in too many obscure places know about this, to be able to obliviate them all," he said, angrily. "Apparently they have machines called 'computers' on which they store knowledge and we don't have anyone capable of removing that. How is it that nobody saw a little boy being put into a dustbin?"

"Arabella did tell you, Albus, that Mundungus was missing," said Minerva McGonagall tartly. "And you weren't interested."

"Mundungus is a bit erratic but …." Albus frowned. "Mundungus Fletcher, are you telling me you were gone all night?"

"Yeah, well, I can't 'ave me eyes on everyfink orl the while, can I?" said the revoltingly smelly thief, defensively. "I got offered a deal I'd be a fule t'turn down, innit?"

"You were putting your profit over the well-being of the most important person in the wizarding world, and now you've let the only person who can save us from Voldemort die!" sobbed Remus.

"Oh he isn't dead," said Albus. "And that's why we are meeting. The Dursleys apparently thought he was dead, but the muggle aurors took him to a hospital of sorts, and they plan to put him into an orphanage. We can't have that, so he's going to have to be adopted, and an alternative to the blood wards found."

"He's alive? I'll have him!" said Remus.

"No, Remus; your monthly problem precludes that," said Dumbledore. "I thought Severus might take him."

Snape raised an eyebrow.

"Why me?" he asked mildly. "I have no parenting skills."

Dumbledore twinkled at him, and Snape's expression became even dourer.

"Because, my dear boy, you wish to protect him, as you swore to me, and because you have experience of being abused, so you will understand him, and recognise that he will be truculent and rebellious," said Dumbledore. "Alas that we did not know how abused and neglected he was!"

Snape regarded him with glittering black eyes.

 _And I wager you think that the hatred I still feel for James Potter will give the Potter brat just enough abuse from me to make him your tool._ he thought. But he thought it underneath the memories of James which the headmaster expected and wanted to see.

"I cannot think that making me the child's guardian is wise," Snape snapped.

"We could have him!" enthused Molly. "He could grow up with our own little Ronnie!"

"I think not," said Dumbledore. "My mind is made up. And Severus, I want you to think of him as Lily's son, not James's."

Severus shrugged.

"I will do my duty by him," he said, in a bored tone, concealing his anger. That manipulation was quite obvious. And might have worked had he not had the shock of finding that a child, any child, had been left for dead in a rubbish disposal receptacle.

However much he may have hated James Potter, the evident expectation that he would be cold and harsh to a child not quite five years old was one of Albus' more disgusting ideas. Indeed, Severus was beginning to distrust Albus Dumbledore. It had been his assumption that the Boy-Who-Lived would live the life of Riley with adoring relatives, and Severus did a rapid self-legilimensy to find that this idea was implanted in him. He reached further back, to reality, to Petunia Evans calling her sister a freak. How the child had survived a head wound as serious as Albus had reported was a mystery; the strength of his magical core must be considerable to have healed himself after the Dursleys thought he was dead.

Severus left with a swirl of his robes; his role had been given out by the puppet master.

He was not a warm man, and he doubted he could manage to define such words as 'fuzzy', but he would not be the stern, cold guardian Dumbledore evidently expected him to be.

It would be his small rebellion and revenge on Dumbledore to be as good a father as he could be. Maybe he could learn warm and fuzzy. And part of that would be to call the boy by his name, Harry. Dumbledore always called his tools 'my boy', as if by failing to name them he could keep his use of them impersonal.

OoOoOo

Severus Snape maintained an interest in Muggle science and how it paralleled magical theory, and he knew that if he was to obtain custody of Harry Potter in a documented Muggle way, so that Albus could not interfere, he would need DNA from James Potter, and he would have to move fast. He hurried to Godric's Hollow.

It was unbelievable.

Thousands of witches and wizards had convened on the village and were holding a candlelight vigil outside the cottage where James and Lily had lived. It would have been a moving spectacle, had Severus Snape been a man to admit to being moved, but it was also exasperating. There was no way that he could obtain a sample of James's blood from the extensive spatter that had been left here; Voldemort had killed James more messily than he had killed Lily.

That left Potter Manor, which was too heavily warded for him to enter, or the meagre hopes of some blood left from the fight he had had with James in the Shrieking Shack.

The Shrieking Shack it would have to be.

OoOoOo

Armed with a vial of blood, which he had magically multiplied, Severus took himself to the cottage hospital in Little Whingeing.

"If you are the little boy's father, why weren't you visiting him?" asked a sceptical nurse. Severus looked down his nose at her.

"Because though Lily and I were engaged, I released her to marry James Potter, whom she loved more," he lied smoothly. It was almost not a lie, so easier to tell. "When they died so tragically, I did not think that there was any need for more disruption in her son's life, as he had an aunt and uncle to go to. I can't be sure, after all, that I am his father. But I am ready to have a DNA test. I would never have left Lily's boy with those people if I had known what they were like; even if he wasn't my son."

"We aren't big enough to do that here, though we could take your DNA and ask the police to test it," said the nurse, dubiously. "If you are not his father, there is, I'm afraid, no chance of custody."

"May I see Harry? He might recall his Uncle Sev," said Severus. Harry would not remember him, but he could implant a small, false memory so the lad would be less frightened of so grim-faced a man."

"That's his name?" the nurse grabbed paper.

"Hasn't he been able to tell you?" Severus was shocked. He was that bad?

"He thinks his name is 'Freak'," whispered the nurse.

"I'm going to kill the Dursleys!" growled Severus.

"I'm going to pretend you didn't say that," said the nurse. "Will you come and talk to the police officer who is with him, and tell her all you know?"

Juliet Victor looked up when the nurse said,

"This gentleman knew the little boy's parents, and he might be his biological father. He walked away when his fiancée got married."

"I knew Petunia was jealous of Lily's scholarship to the school for gifted children but it did not occur to me that she would mistreat Harry," said Severus.

"Harry? Do you know his full name?"

Severus thought swiftly and decided to add another name to the boy.

"Henry James Severus Potter, birthdate 31st July, 1980," he said. "He was named for me and for James Potter, and for Lily's father, Henry or Harry Evans. My name is Severus Snape."

"But that would make him almost five … he's nothing like the size of a five year old," said Juliet.

"Apparently not," said Severus, gazing down at the little body in the bed. The signature scar of the Boy-Who-Lived had been sutured. It appeared to be healing. Severus brushed the messy black hair with his left hand.

His arm did not throb.

Normally when his own wound was near a wound cursed by Voldemort, the sympathetic magic screamed and pained him.

Whatever part of himself the Dark Lord had left inside the baby, as Albus had postulated that he had, was gone. Knocked out by the corner of the table? Most unlikely.

Perhaps Harry would talk to him about it one day.

"Very well," he said. "You gather evidence; can you take my DNA? If he is mine, it will be easier to adopt him legally, I believe?"

"Yes, subject to home reports," said Juliet.

Severus had no objection to handling home reports the quick way with confundment. Establishing his bona fides as Harry's blood relative was more important. He obediently opened his mouth for a swab, and performed the slickest switching spell of his life to exchange a drop of blood from the vial with the saliva on the test swab. Now the test would return the genetic heritance of James Potter. That was taken care of.

The rest would be paperwork, and the hard work would come in establishing a relationship with young Harry.

The green eyes opened and gazed with fear.

"Hello, Harry," said Severus. "Do you remember me? Uncle Sev. I used to play with you when your parents were alive. Along with Uncle Moony and friends," he added, using legilimensy to search for the other Marauders. Hell, it was hard to believe that Sirius Black could have betrayed the Potters, he was the soul of dog-like devotion ….

Dog-like devotion. The animagus form was determined by the personality. Prongs, a stag, posturing, vain, not too bright. Padfoot, the devoted hound. Wormtail. A rat.

A rat.

Well that was something to ponder.

Severus skilfully added pictures of himself playing and enhanced memories, albeit in flashes, of the Potters. That at least might give Harry some idea of what a family was supposed to be.

"You took me for rides like Uncle Paddy," said Harry.

"Yes," said Severus, easing the child into sleep before he spoke about what they were riding in front of muggles. "And if they let me adopt you, we'll go riding a lot together."

The muggle auror woman would doubtless mention that and he would be seen as a wealthy man with horses. It wouldn't do his claim any harm.

"I'm glad he remembers you," said Juliet, softly.

"So am I," said Severus. "And if I don't get custody, I hope you'll be investigating whether those damned relatives of his have been diddling his inheritance; though I suspect it's held in trust for him. You would think if they had any sense, if they had any idea, they'd keep him in better condition. I know James Potter, and he'd not have let his fortune go to in-laws; if anything happened to Harry, there would be a clause for it to revert to other relatives first. I have every respect for his ability to tie it up tightly."

"He is well enough off then?" Juliet gasped. "I would not have guessed."

"His father was worth several million when he died," said Severus, shrugging. "I cannot claim to live in that heady level of wealth, but Harry will not want. And I'll be having a lawyer to tie up what may be touched for his benefit and what may not, and an accountant to check my spending on his behalf if he is my son. I do not think it would invalidate the will, as James accepted him fully."

"It is a relief to know he will be well cared for," said Juliet. "I will let you know as soon as we have a result; can I have your phone number?"

"I would rather give you my address; we've had some reception problems," Severus again lied smoothly. There was a phone at Spinner's End but he knew that the British Telecom had added numbers to all phone numbers when they separated from the Post office, some years since he had been wont to call Lily by telephone. He was hazy about what his telephone number currently was. It might not be a bad idea to find out. He wrote down his address.

"Not a salubrious neighbourhood, is it?" he said, in an amused tone. "But then, with a child to care for, I'd go looking for a better place to rear him. Or use one of his own houses," he added.

"One of… this is going to take some getting used to," said Juliet. "I understand his aunt and uncle described his parents as workshy drunken bums."

"An interesting way of describing a dilettante playboy," said Severus, amused. "Not, however, accurate; James never did drink to excess, and the other party in the accident that killed them was the one who was shown to be to blame. But then, I suspect Tuney and the Whale were jealous. I didn't realise how much. And I'm sorry it's cost this poor little boy so much," he added, seriously.

Juliet filed away the description of Tuney and the Whale to tell her colleagues. This Mr. Snape seemed to be a decent man, if rather snarky. She hoped he would be the child's father.

"If you er, do not succeed in custody, the authorities are going to need to know the name of his father's accountant and so on," she said.

"I'll provide the information as needed," said Severus. "There's nothing to stop him from having his solicitor named as his guardian and hiring appropriate people to care for him, but family is better if possible."

He made his goodbyes and escaped from being personable. He would submit a claim of adoption on grounds of consanguinity as soon as possible, and hope that the wheels of bureacracy turned at about the same speed as the DNA test.

 **Chapter 2**

In the event, getting the paperwork sorted out was easy. Once Severus was able to 'prove' that he was Harry's biological father, it was smooth enough. Social Services heaved a sigh of relief, especially when they found out that the new father was a teacher. This meant, to their mind, that he was already checked out with the police and was safe. One more child the state did not have to provide for. And Severus filed for magical adoption as well, adding the name Severus to Harry's name, as Henry James Severus Potter Snape.

As Dumbledore was pulling the strings here, the adoption went through smoothly, because Dumbledore had declared that Severus Snape would be Harry's guardian. He had not specified that he would not support adoption, as it never occurred to him that Severus would go that far.

It would not be until he tried next to pull strings as Harry's magical guardian, since he only intended Severus to be the boy's physical guardian, that he discovered that adoption superseded this. And Severus moved fast, like the good Slytherin he was, to take his adoption papers to Gringotts, and to ask for a proportion of any interest to be placed into an account that he could access, for necessities for his new son, and for Harry's parents' accounts to be sealed until Harry was eleven.

"Are you sure, Mr. Snape?" asked Griphook.

"Certain, Griphook," said Severus. "I am not well off, but with a bit extra to see to Harry's needs, that will be quite sufficient."

"The headmaster has been taking a thousand galleons a month, he said it's to pay the boy's relatives," said Griphook.

Severus frowned.

"Well if they saw any of it, they never spent any on Harry; he was starved to the point of death and dressed in ill-fitting rags," he said. "So at best, the headmaster has abrogated his responsibility in seeing that the monies were spent only on the child."

Griphook frowned.

"I can have this looked into," he said. "Where will Mr. Potter-Snape be residing?"

"Well, I'm not keen on taking him to my own house, which is not large or in a good neighbourhood," said Severus, "Though I shall want him to visit, to see where his mother grew up. We were childhood friends."

Griphook's ears went up.

"Ah! That explains a lot," he said. "Your have done your best to repay your father's debts to us, Mr. Snape; as you are the guardian of the Boy Who Lived, I will see if I can get the rest waived."

"That … Griphook, words fail me," said Severus, much touched.

"He must have a happy childhood, and as much help as possible to fulfil the prophecy," said Griphook. "And when he is old enough to understand, you must bring him here to hear the goblin version. We, too, have our seers, but we do not hide our prophecies away, but keep them open so that every nuance may be interpreted by those skilled in doing so, or those with insights."

"What is your prophecy? Am I allowed to know it?" asked Severus.

"Certainly; you will be training and preparing him for the role and he will need a loving background," said Griphook. "To be honest, I have wondered whether to check up on him, and to take over his guardianship myself. I cannot think that muggles would be much use to him, even if they were not as abusive as it seems they were."

"Indeed," said Severus. "I shall welcome your aid, if you are ready to give it," he added.

"Willingly," Griphook said, and lifted a parchment from his desk which he handed to Severus.

It read,

 _The child who is born to those who have thrice defied the evil one will be marked by the evil one as his equal, which will banish the evil long enough for the child to begin his education. Only by death can the Mark be lost, but not all death is permanent. The child must die to truly kill the evil one, who has many lives hidden, which must all be destroyed. He will have the power of love and friendship to help him, and the evil one knows not love. Nurture the child's loving nature, for if he loses it, the evil one will surely win._

"Interesting," said Severus. "I know a part of the human prophecy."

Griphook snorted.

"We have taken steps to obtain a copy ourselves; it is fuzzy and woolly and open to a great deal of misinterpretation. There is no mention in it of the horcruces which our prophecy plainly alludes to."

"Horcruces? Plural? Many lives hidden. Great powers!" swore Severus.

Griphook nodded.

"We goblins have been researching the life of Tom Riddle, otherwise known as Lord Voldemort, whose name I can speak inside the wards of the bank, since he cannot hear it spoken in here."

"He can hear it outside?" Severus asked sharply.

"He has a number of esoteric and ancient spells at his disposal, we believe," said Griphook, "And he may be unable to hear it while he is indisposed, as he is at the moment. But we do not believe for one moment the comfortable lie wizards hold that he is gone for good."

"I'm a fan of creative paranoia myself," said Severus, "and I did rather think that having a spell bounced by a fifteen month baby was a little on the optimistic side. Have you any idea how it happened? Was it blood magic on the part of Lily Evans Potter?"

Griphook shrugged.

"We think that the boy is descended from several of the Founders, by coincident bloodlines, and there is some protection from their interwoven lines which will cover him until he is adult with the power of luck. But relying on luck is not a good idea, and he should not know of that. A blood sacrifice might have done the trick. Or maybe there is more to his magical core. Without seeing him, we cannot say."

"Griphook, if his scar heals, will it mean that the mark is destroyed? And is it, as your prophecy implies, a horcrux?"

Griphook gave a savage grin.

"A wizard prepared to deal with reality? Mr. Potter-Snape is lucky. Yes, we think it is a horcrux and that if killed, the scar will fade. However, killing a child is a drastic way to test that theory."

"I am formulating my own theory," said Severus, "that Harry did die at the hands of his relatives, which killed the horcrux, thereby protecting his own soul enough to heal himself. The scar, when I visited him in hospital, appeared to be healing."

"Well now!" Griphook's ears went up. "I cannot condone their behaviour, in fact every goblin in England wants to bury them alive, and all of us would donate a galleon each to crush them to death with gold, but this might actually be to some good in the long run."

"Excellent," said Severus. "I will keep you apprised of the state of his scar."

"I would appreciate it, Mr. Snape," said Griphook. "You won't be trusting the headmaster, though?"

"Not any more," said Severus.

"Good. I will see to having the cottage at Godric's Hollow repaired for your use, so he may live with good memories of his family. His elves will be contacted, and goblin wards will be made to allow you and him to enter only, and you may add others you see fit. Be very careful whom you permit in. I will also see that his other properties are kept maintained, so that he may choose to live elsewhere as he gets older."

Severus nodded, and duly gave Griphook a bloody thumbprint to add to the wards, and to activate the account he was to use for Harry, and took himself off feeling much happier.

OoOoOo

The green eyes were wary when Severus was permitted to pick up Harry from the hospital.

"Are you really my dad?" Harry whispered.

"I am now," said Severus. "No, I wasn't the dad you had at first. But I loved your mummy and I think she would have rather have had me care for you than your aunt and uncle. But you know what people in charge of things are like."

The head shook.

Severus sighed.

"People in charge of things think they have the right to make decisions about the lives of others according to what they think is correct. And sometimes they get it wrong. I will try not to get anything wrong if I have to decide things for you; and I will ask you what you think."

Harry digested this.

"I'm allowed to think and say what I think?" he was amazed.

"Yes, and if I disagree I will try to explain why," said Severus.

"Will you shut me in a cupboard?"

"I will never, ever shut you in a cupboard for any reason," said Severus. "Do you like me calling you Harry? It's a pet name for Henry, you know, if you prefer that."

"Is it? It's ok," said Harry. "Is the baby prince named Henry?"

"Yes, but they are calling him Harry," said Severus. "It's something which gives you options, if you give a name from which you can chose a hypocoristic, er, pet name. Naming someone just 'Harry' would be a bit low. Like naming someone Jimmy, which is a pet name of James. Which is another name you have. You are named Henry James Severus. James is for your father. Severus is for me. People often keep family names in the Wizarding world."

"What was your father called?" asked Harry.

"Tobias," said Severus, trying not to snap it. "I am Severus Tobias Snape."

"Could I be Toby then? Like Toby the Tram-Engine on Thomas the Tank engine. Dudley watches it. Toby was shabby and nobody wanted him until the Fat Controller chose him." He giggled suddenly. "You are more like the Thin Controller though," he said.

"I have no idea what you are talking about … wait, have they made the engine stories into TV? I remember the books," said Severus. "Anthropomorphised engines, er, engines with faces, which speak and act like people."

Harry nodded eagerly.

"I think books are better than TV," he said.

"I agree," said Severus, who was uncomfortably aware of recalling word for word the vinyl records one of his primary school teachers played of Johnny Morris reading the books, to help the slower readers to catch up. Muggles liked to see steam engines as living, breathing things. "Very well; I do not much like the name Tobias, but Toby Snape has a bit of a ring to it. And … um, if you would like me to be your father in blood as well as in law, we could do a ritual."

"All right," said Harry, or Toby. "What do I call you?"

"Does 'dad' sound appropriate?" asked Severus.

His new son beamed.

"Thanks, Dad," he said.

Severus smoothed the child's hair off his brow, and noted with satisfaction that the scar was healing nicely, and would be gone in a few days. Whatever darkness Voldemort had left in his victim seemed to have died in the dustbin, a sacrifice to Harry's, Toby's, he corrected himself, survival.

[ _Author's note: Tobias and the Angel is a story from the apocrypha where Tobias, which means God is good, is saved from certain death by an angel and with his help goes on to defeat Asmodeus. I thought the parallels were rather nice. I never pick names without a lot of thought but I wondered if that one might escape some people as not everyone has access to the apocrypha. I expect you to do your own work on mythological, cultural and Biblical references on less obscure material.]_

 **Chapter 3**

"Do you like this house?" Severus asked. "It's where your real parents lived."

Toby screamed and screamed.

"That'll be no, then," said Severus, apparating away with the screaming child in his arms. "Hush, Toby, we need not stay there. We'll go to my house for the moment and we'll see about adopting you properly and going to one of your other housese."

"Flash of green … bad…" said Toby, through tears which followed the screaming. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" he cowered.

Severus held the child closely.

"Hush, Toby, I will never hurt you. Especially not for being afraid. I had no idea you would remember anything. Don't worry."

"Where are we? How did we get here?"

At least Toby was not too cowed to ask questions, though the cowering for crying was ominously familiar to Severus. Yes, he had experience with abuse. Whether that was enough to help another abused child was questionable, but the trusting green eyes meant that he was swearing that he would try.

"It's magic, Toby; what your stupid uncle and aunt were afraid of. But I am a wizard, and you will be a wizard when you are older. We are in my little house, which is old and shabby, and I have bad memories here. But I think we need to make you truly my son, don't you?"

"How?"

"I need some of your blood, and some of mine," said Severus. "Will you be able to make a cut on your hand? I will heal it as soon as you have dripped into the potion I will make."

"I cut myself sometimes cooking. The knives are awful big," said Toby.

"What is that woman doing letting you loose with knives?" said Severus. "You shouldn't be handling them when she teaches you to cook."

"Oh Aunt Petunia doesn't teach me; I had to figure it out for myself, and if I spoilt it, Uncle Vernon beat me. I learned to cook pretty well, and I don't often burn myself either."

Severus promised himself a quiet moment with each of the Dursleys in gaol, with some of his darker spells.

"Well, if you are good at cooking, I expect you will be good at potions," he said. "It's my special subject, so I will be very happy if you are."

Toby promised himself to be good at potions, whatever that was, for a man who let him have a name of his own.

Being named after a prince did seem a little cheeky after all, even if the prince came later, but named after his new grandfather was quite proper.

Severus reflected that with the scar gone, and a new name, there was no reason for anyone to realise that the lad had ever been Harry Potter. If only Dumbledore did not realise ….

With the adoption potion there was a lie he might tell.

OoOoOo

"I am going to show you how much blood I need," said Severus, as he brewed the adoption potion. "Just a few drops."

Toby watched.

"It's not a very big cut," he said, critically. "Not like when I cut my thumb so bad I couldn't do any chores because it festered after I scrubbed the floor and I was ill for days in my cupboard."

"Once you do this, nobody can make you do anything we don't agree to, together, again," said Severus, grimly. "I am not a man who is good at giving cuddles or affection, but I swear I'll be a better parent than those people."

"Oh, you are just what I imagined a Dad would be," said Toby, fearlessly cutting his hand.

Severus finished the brewing, and bottled the potion.

"We are going to go to Diagon Alley to talk to goblins," he said. "I'm sorry to run you about when you must be exhausted, but moving fast is important, to protect you."

Toby took his hand trustingly, and nodded.

How could a child be so trusting and loving after all he had been through? Severus felt his eyeballs prickling, and blinked hard. This was the 'power the Dark Lord knew not', perhaps, the ability to retain such a searingly pure aura despite everything. Severus could not see auras without a complex spell, but he could almost feel that of Lily's son.

oOoOo

Griphook smiled kindly on Toby. Most children of five would have been terrified, but Toby shook his hand, and said,

"How do you do, Mr. Griphook? This is my new Dad."

"So I understand, Mr. Potter. Or will it be Mr. Snape?"

Severus cleared his throat.

"I don't want to jeopardise his inheritance if I use an adoption potion. I wanted to ask you about that, and if it was permitted, to key his new blood signature to his inheritance."

"Oh, so long as he has not been disinherited, there is no problem about that, Mr. Snape," said Griphook. "And what has been witnessed by goblins remains with the goblins, you know."

"You don't trust Dumbledore either, then?" asked Severus.

"Frankly, I don't trust any ambitious wizard very much," said Griphook, "but Dumbledore is a man who has a Vision, and unfortunately his Vision is in serious need of close-work spectacles."

"What an excellent way of putting it," said Severus. "Griphook, I want to make out that Harry Potter died in hospital before I took him, and to have paperwork for a child left at an orphanage known as Toby Evans, subsequently adopted by me as my son, Toby Snape. I also need someone to be with Toby while I break the sad news to the Order of the Phoenix. I had thought that adopting in the regular way might be enough, but I am not so sure."

"Ah, the unsecret secret society." Griphook's grin was somewhat feral. "Toby will need a lot of nutrient potions to make it seem that he is a year older than his age; I have no fear that he will manage to excel at schoolwork, however, and be ahead of his chronological age. However, the book of all children at Hogwarts will show him at his actual age."

Severus shrugged.

"Then I will brew a permanent ageing potion; when it is a matter of no more than nine months it's not too hard," he said. "If he were born any time after September 1st 1979, he would be called in for the next year. Which seems a little unfair, but there you are."

"I am sure you can handle that side of things, Mr. Snape," said Griphook. "Leave tinkering with the muggle records to me. He had a seizure and died before you could collect him. Sad, but it happens. I'll arrange for Wiggy, the chief Potter elf to come to care for him. I thought he was at Godric's Hollow?"

"Toby remembered his parents being killed there," said Severus. "We're at Spinner's End, pending a move to Potter Manor. I don't know where it is, and it wasn't of immediate importance."

"No, quite so," said Griphook. "Now, you have a ceremony for me to witness? I'll just call a second witness if I may."

He pressed a button, and a young goblin came in.

"Garnaz, get Ragnok," said Griphook. "Might as well have senior staff. Ragnok will enjoy getting one over Dumbledore."

"Applied to go to Hogwarts, didn't he?" said Severus. "The old coot was, I suppose all smiles and excuses why he couldn't."

"Quite so," said Griphook. "We have our own magic, same as elves, but if you ask me, there won't be any equality in the wizarding world until all magics are taught to all people."

"You're probably right," said Severus. "I'm not keen on humans, myself; I like goblins better, you have protocols which are not ignored as old fashioned, and I know if you insult me, you meant it."

"Quite so, Mr. Snape," said Griphook. "Ah, Ragnok, we are here to witness a magical adoption procedure."

Ragnok's brows went up.

"I thought it was illegal nowadays?"

"Not to goblins," said Griphook. "I have a goblin goblet for adoptions right here, Mr. Snape."

"Thank you," Severus bowed and took the proffered goblet, pouring his potion into it. "I, Severus Tobias Snape do hereby adopt as my son, through my blood and his, Tobias Harry James Severus Potter Snape, to be in my care and to give my love and care unconditionally. Let it be made so." And he drank from the goblet.

"Now, Toby, you have to vow to be my son, and obey my strictures until you are of age," he said kindly.

Toby nodded.

"I, Toby … Tobias … Harry James Severus Potter Snape do take you, Severus Tobias Snape to be my father and to obey you until I am grown up," he said.

Severus looked quickly at Griphook.

"Should be enough," said Griphook. "As with all magic, intent means more than words anyway."

Severus nodded, and Toby drank the potion.

He blinked several times, and sat down rather hard. Severus was glad of the excuse to drop to his knees beside him.

"It's a heady draught," said Griphook. "Your magic is merging; please permit me to levitate you onto a bed to rest. I will have food sent in, in about half an hour, when you should be ready to eat."

"Thank you; you are going to a lot of trouble on our behalf," said Severus.

"We have a vested interest in keeping Mr. Toby Snape safe," said Griphook. "Besides, Ragnok and I are always happy to thumb our noses at our esteemed grand mugwump."

"The man wears too many hats to do any one job properly," said Ragnok.

"I agree," said Severus, lifting Toby onto the bed Griphook had summoned, or whatever method goblins used. The little boy was asleep. Severus hoped, with a sudden pang, that he would not lose his green eyes and get black ones if their appearance merged, as was supposed to happen.

The only thing he feared for himself was getting James Potter hair. That would be most embarrassing.

OoOoOo

Sitting up, eating a sumptuous feast, Severus cast his eye over Toby. The untidy hair seemed to have grown, and become softer and more controllable, and the eyes remained green. The boy's face had lengthened a little, which made him look a little older, and he was too young to tell if he would have Tobias Snape's unfortunate nose. Severus summoned a mirror. If his appearance had changed too much, he would need spells to hide that from Dumbledore.

He did not need to worry. His black eyes were still dark enough to look black, and you had to look close to see green flecks in them. His hair had reddish highlights, but a colour change charm to the follicles as they grew would take care of that. Apparently Lily's genes in her son were the stronger, which was interesting. The potion had taken her heritance for his father. Well, James Potter always was rather shallow.

"What happens now?" asked Toby.

"A few formalities, and then we go home. An elf will come to watch you while I have to go somewhere," said Severus, then disengaged the hand which clung to him. "I will not be gone long, and I will be coming back, but Wiggy is your house elf, and you will be able to get to know him, to call on him for any help."

"What's a house elf?" asked Toby.

"They are odd looking creatures about your size, when grown up," said Severus. "They are essentially enslaved to the wizarding world, but they like to be busy."

"Slavery is bad."

"Yes, but they are scared of being free, so please do not discuss it with them until you know how to do so without scaring them," said Severus, pinching the bridge of his nose. Slavery was abhorrent, but it was the first time he had had to address the slavery of elves face on. Those at Hogwarts were fiercely independent despite being technical slaves; and his mother had never owned an elf, so he did not know what it was like to grow up with them.

The formalities just needed a pin prick to each of their thumbs, to be keyed to their accounts and it was soon over; and when Severus apparated Toby back to Spinner's End, it was to find Wiggy ready and waiting, and virtually worshipping the little master.

"Master James said that his friend Sirius Black would be living in Potter Manor and caring for his son if anything happened to him," he squeaked, almost accusingly.

"Sirius Black betrayed James and Lily Potter to the Dark Lord," said Severus."

"Oh, Master Snape, how can he have done that?" said Wiggy. "He was a dog animagus."

"Well, he was their secret keeper, wasn't he?" said Severus.

"Oh no, Master Snape, that was Peter Pettigrew!" said Wiggy. "We elvses didn't like Master Ratty being secret keeper and we was right. Nasty man," he said.

Severus stared.

"Well, that actually makes sense," he said. "Now, if you will give young Master Toby a bath, and pop him to bed, I have to go out."

"His name is Master Harry," said Wiggy.

"Wiggy, he has chosen the name Toby," said Severus. "And if anyone knows he is Master Harry, someone is going to hurt him. He is Master Toby Snape."

Wiggy sniffed.

"Well, if it is to protect him," he said, reluctantly. "Wiggy will tell the other elveses. And we will prepare a property nobody knows belonged to Master James."

"If there are any, that would be good," said Severus.

 **Chapter 4**

"Albus, I called an emergency meeting because things took a turn for the worse," said Severus, to the collected members of the Order of the Phoenix.

"In what respect, my boy?" Albus twinkled at him. "I'm sure you can handle any small problems. When do you take the boy?"

"I don't," said Severus, flatly.

"Nonsense, my boy, you can look after him well enough," said Albus.

"I can bury him," said Severus.

"Severus! Ye've no… " Minerva looked shocked. Severus threw her a mocking look.

"Oh, I'm a child killer now, am I? just what anyone wants as a teacher," he sneered. "It's not me who killed the child, it's his precious relatives with whom he would be so …. _Safe._ " He almost spat the word. "I have here a letter of condolence from the hospital."

That had been quickly arranged; Griphook was good, Severus had to admit.

Minerva gasped and slumped back in her chair. Molly set up a loud wail. Albus lost his twinkle and stared. He twitched the letter away from Severus and read it.

"Biological son?" he asked.

"I am particularly good at switching spells to fool muggle tests," said Severus. "You have always berated me for merely confunding muggles. I had to prove visiting rights; one can hardly turn up without a by your leave and whisk a child away from a hospital. It's little short of abuse."

"Er, quite," said Dumbledore, who would not have thought twice about doing just that.

"As for my own bitterness, it is somewhat assuaged when I did confund the muggle aurors to berate Petunia," said Severus. "Apparently I have a son."

"What?" said Minerva. "Lily never said anything to me about being with child before she married James."

Severus sneered.

"He isn't Lily's," he said. "I was angry with Lily, and with Petunia, who started to sour our friendship from the first. I am not proud of raping her as one of my first acts as a Death Eater, but I couldn't get the stomach to join in their ruddy orgies without something personal in it. And she lived, unlike most of the unwilling muggle participants."

In fact he had not participated at all and had been laughed at; but that was neither here nor there.

Dumbledore was staring at him.

"You said you never joined in."

"I didn't. I didn't count punishing Petunia as joining their depraved acts of power over helpless muggles. Petunia is as helpless as a sack full of pit vipers. Anyway, I know where my son is; his name is Tobias, known as Toby. Maybe she felt that naming him after my father would hurt me. He has green eyes; must run in the family."

"That was not well done of you, Severus," said Dumbledore, coldly. "It may have contributed to Petunia's feelings against the wizarding world."

"When she was already calling me 'freak' from when I was eight years old, and Lily too? Hardly," said Severus. "I have told you I am not proud of it, but I used no magic on her except to apparate her to safety. "But I cannot take credit for an attitude that was already set. Had Potter lived, I would have reared the boys together. I don't suppose I could have done a worse job than Petunia managed with her own son and her nephew. The unfortunate Dursley brat is as abused in his own way, being a spoilt, obese little moron with delusions of sentience. Petunia and her whale are no sorts of parents even to their own. It was Lily she was punishing by hurting the boy; because he was Lily's son, and Lily had a world that was denied to her, even the chance to come to school and learn theory. Apparently she wrote to you," he scowled at Dumbledore, "So you might as well be blamed for her attitude as me, as that seems to rankle most. Oh, but wait, you are to be blamed for putting Harry with his aunt and uncle in the first place and not checking he was fed properly or treated well. The hospital told me he was as severely malnourished as they would expect some kid in tribal Africa to be, as well as having plenty of old broken bones as well as the new set. Do _not_ try to remove the blame to me for your carelessness over whether your toy to save the wizarding world got broken!"

"Severus!" Molly was shocked. "How can you refer to a child as a toy?"

"Well, isn't that the way Albus has treated him?" said Severus.

"If you are not going to have to look out for Harry Potter, I will not need you on the teaching staff, Severus," said Dumbledore.

"Suits me," said Severus. "I would have done all that was needful, but I'm happier to be my own master. I'll earn more selling potions at a potion master's rates than as a schoolmaster anyway, and I have a son to raise."

The big lie was working. The Order were shaken, devastated, horrified and bemused, wanting to hate him because they found him hateful, and that was easier than hating Albus bloody Dumbledore, the universal grandfather.

"Severus, wait," said Minerva. "You chose to misunderstand me earlier, but I am sure Albus will be puzzled as to how to find a potions teacher at such short notice; only two months."

"Well, maybe he should have thought of that before sacking me because he's angry that I'm not prepared to cover his own shortcomings. I have been his whipping boy hitherto because he had me over a barrel, and I swore to protect Lily's son to the best of my ability. My ability is not enough to overcome the stupidity of a senile old coot who chooses to _protect_ the boy with muggles who hated his parents even more than I hated James. Or of course he might have wanted Harry to be so miserable that, like me, when I was in the extremis of despair over my stupidity in going to the dark lord, he could extract a promise to do anything."

"Severus! I know you are more upset than you care to show, but Albus isn't like that!" said Molly.

"No? if you say so," Severus kept his tone indifferent. "Senile then, to fail to realise and to fail to check on the unfortunate brat. Whichever, he has dispensed with my services, so perhaps you will permit me to leave."

"Severus, could you suggest anyone who could replace you?" asked Minerva.

His smile was a sneer.

"Lily Evans Potter," he said. He threw the floo powder into the fire, and exited sharply. He had told the lie he thought people would believe, and should not feel hurt that they were only too ready to believe it.

OoOoOo

Toby leaped up and flung himself on Severus when that irritated individual had stalked out of the floo.

"You'll get soot on you," said Severus, mildly. "And you just bathed. Why weren't you in bed?"

Toby hung his head.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I … I wanted to wait for you. In … in case you didn't come back."

Severus forbore to point out that if he hadn't come back there was no point waiting for him, and magically removed the smuts from the pyjamas he had bought for Toby, which Wiggy had collected from Godric's hollow.

"Well, I suppose it was the first time I went away," he said. "Another time, you go to bed when you are told, and if you are awake when I get home, I will tuck you in and say good night, and if you are not, I will leave a note, so if you wake up, you will see it. Er, can you read?"

Toby shook his head.

"I haven't been to school, yet," he said.

"And you didn't hear your aunt teaching her cousin, I suppose," sighed Severus.

"Oh Aunt Petunia doesn't teach Dudley anything," said Toby. "He's going to learn at school, and he'd better learn before me, or I'll learn what show-off freaks get."

"You may learn as fast as you like for me," said Severus. "I am going to work from home, wherever that ends up being, and so I shall have time to teach you. And in the mean time, I'll write letters in picture writing."

"Like Egyptian mummies?" asked Toby. "Why didn't they bury their daddies too?"

"Like Egyptian hieroglyphs, only easier for English little boys," said Severus. "I don't know why they call the embalmed bodies 'mummies', but they are daddies and children and grandfathers as well, anyone who died. I will look it up in an encyclopaedia."

"Can we do that now?"

Severus sighed.

"Perhaps we'd better," he said, summoning the index volume of his father's Arthur Mee's children's encyclopaedia, from the days when Tobias Snape had been a well-off engineer, before he discovered booze. Armed with the right volume, he read out, "It's from Latin, 'mumia' which means bitumen, that's the tar they put on roads, because the bodies are blackened and look like they are made of tar. "

"Cool!" said Toby.

"You will learn Latin as well," said Severus, "And if you like, there's no harm in learning Ancient Egyptian. It can help with some spells."

Toby managed a giggle.

"So long as I don't have to walk like an Egyptian," he said.

"No, but you are going to sleep like all little boys anywhere, any time," said Severus. "Into bed now!"

OoOoOo

Leeds provided sufficient shops for basic clothes for a little boy. Severus had bought some clothes hoping they were big enough, but Toby would need more. He would also need to be built up to look older. At the moment he looked two or three years younger than his chronological age, rather than the year or so older that he needed to. Severus just had to hope that nobody would see Toby until he had had time to ….

Severus knew that Rookwood was a Death Eater, and he worked with the Unspeakables. He could get hold of one of the fabled Time-Turners. Once in the privacy of the house Wiggy was sorting out, they could go back whole days at a time to catch Toby up and to make him truly a year older. It made no difference to a man in his mid twenties, but to a child of five, it made all the difference in the world.

Severus executed a brief jig step.

"Dad?" said Toby.

"I had a clever idea," said Severus.

"What, Dad?"

"I know how to get us time," said Severus. "Time to do more. Wiggy will have to arrange an elf at Potter Manor so we aren't in two places at the same time."

Toby giggled.

"You can't do that," he said.

"Oh, you can, but it's dangerous magic if you don't know what you are doing. You won't touch the device, when I get it; only me."

"Yes Dad," said Toby. "Will I grow big enough then?"

"Big enough for me to know you can be kept safe," said Severus. "Now, you choose what you like."

"I can choose?"

"Yes, anything you like," said Severus, recklessly.

Soon he had a small boy with an ensemble liberally decorated with dinosaurs and a few camouflage patterns.

It could be worse. Severus thought dinosaurs were much more tasteful than purple robes with stars and moons on them.

And at least he wasn't likely to be greeting the owner of those robes, since Severus had placed a password on his floo, so there was no chance of Albus or Minerva being in his house waiting for him.

Wiggy was waiting when they got home, and a female elf who swept Toby's purchases to put away. Toby trotted along to help.

"Professor Dumbledore tried to come through the floo, Master Snape!" squeaked Wiggy. "And when he couldn't, he stood there calling and calling! Wiggy remembered that Master Severus Snape wasn't supposed to have elveses, so Wiggy stayed out of sight and didn't say anything."

"Well done, Wiggy," said Severus.

"And then Madam Minnie was there and she told the headmaster that you was more upsets than you likes peoples to know, and were probably locked in the basement brewing, to calm down."

"Minerva does know me moderately well," said Severus. It had been why it had hurt when he thought she had accused him of killing Harry Potter. "I think I'll floo call her. You will need to keep Master Toby busy and out of the way. I bought a muggle toy called LEGO while we were out; here, you can unpack it for him while I floo.

OoOoOo

"Severus!" Minerva looked relieved.

"Minerva, last night I was a little … distracted. I knew you would want to explain what you meant by, and I quote, 'Severus! Ye've no…', which I took to mean 'ye've no killed him'."

"I meant, ye blitherin' wee sumpf, had ye no let them send him back tae those murtherin' muggles and let them kill him," said Minerva.

"No, I would never do anything against the interests of Lily's child," said Severus. "I was hurt to think you might think so."

"I do not have the same opinion of you that some do," said Minerva. "If he were older, and looked enough like James to raise bad memories, I would understand you hitting him or being cold to him."

"Unlike my father, I do not hit children," said Severus. "I cannot guarantee I would not have felt antipathy to a child looking like James at the age I first knew him. Harry Potter, however, was a pathetic scrap of humanity looking more like a famine poster than like either of his parents. I hope his aunt and uncle go down for a very long time."

 **Chapter 5**

Soon father and son were ensconced in a very pleasant old farmhouse near a village called Turner's Hill, not far from a small town called Crawley. There was a swimming pool in an old stable complex, and a large garden with a vegetable plot, tended by an elderly elf who introduced himself as Diggy, Wiggy's grandfather. There was plenty of room, and Wiggy showed Severus into the potions room, in an old dairy room, which had been outfitted for Lily Potter, and had never been used.

It was perfect.

"May I shout if I want to?" asked Toby, awed.

"So long as you don't startle me by yelling when I'm brewing," said Severus. "You are not to swim without an elf or me with you."

"I don't know how to swim," said Toby.

"Oh, well, I can teach you while we are training you up. It will be good to build you up as well as fun."

"It looks fun on TV when people are in the pool, when I've seen it."

"It is," said Severus, remembering messing around in the rather grotty open air pool near where he and Lily had lived. Swimming lessons at school had been mandatory; the canal killed too many careless children, and they were taught to swim as soon as possible. The school pool was a pathetic thing, but it got them off the bottom.

Rookwood had come through with the time-turner, and Wiggy took Severus to Potter Manor and keyed him to the wards, and helped him set up a gate to Halfway Farm, as the other house was called. Severus made sure it worked only for a password, and nothing as obvious as 'Lily Evans' which Dumbledore might be likely to try.

Feeling perverse, he picked 'supercalifragilisticexpialidocious' on the grounds that nobody of the wizarding word would know it.

Wiggy was in charge of Severus' mail, and brought a letter with a muggle stamp on it in a handwriting Severus did not know. The hand was forceful and decisive without spilling into arrogant, and Severus raised an eyebrow. He checked for curses and poisons as a matter of course before he opened it.

It said,

" _Dear Mr. Snape,_

 _I was so sorry to hear of your loss, when you had just found your son. It seems too cruel; I was convinced he was going to make it once they had hydrated him._

 _I also want to thank you for renewing my faith in human kind, that you were the absent father for the right reasons not the wrong ones, and for coming when you were needed._

 _I know that there is very little closure in any case where a child dies, but I hope you will not find the sort of spurious reasons we tend to find to blame yourself in any way._

 _Yours sincerely,_

 _Juliet Victor [scenes of crimes officer, we met at Harry's bedside.]_

Severus gasped.

She was doing more than her job, she had cared. There was a crumpled circle on the paper which was definitely a tear spot. How bloody ironic! The cop who had fished Harry, as he was then, out of a dustbin cared more than his bloody relatives.

He ought to write back, and it ought to be a bread and butter letter, which would end any correspondence with her.

It would be wisest, with a muggle.

After all, the more prolonged the communication, the more likely she was to ask questions about why he now had another son, because it was bound to come out. Toby disliked being away from him.

There was a way out, in which he could reassure the attractive young woman and still keep most things secret, and he scowled at himself as he felt a smile touch his lips at the thought of maybe seeing her again.

He wrote,

" _My dear Miss Victor,_

 _I am sure that you are aware of the witness protection plan. Your letter to me has been filtered and sent on to the new address where I live with my son, who is very much alive. As his surname has changed to mine, and is not known to anyone who might be a danger, he is now Toby Snape._

 _I am, of course, breaking cover to tell you this, but I could tell that you had formed a deep connection with my son. I am willing to meet with you, and arrange for you to meet him, but for obvious reasons, I do not want to have my current address written out in a place which references even indirectly our former situation. I will arrange for this to be posted from an anonymous location. Write to my house and the mail will be brought to me._

 _Please forgive the cloak and dagger approach. I like being alive._

 _Severus Snape."_

Wiggy was intelligent enough to post the letter in a post box in London; and Severus had muggle stamps. He had needed them for his formal adoption of Harry in the Muggle world and had bought several books of stamps, being easier than worrying about having too few. He hoped the postal rate had not gone up since he bought them, as Royal Mail was always putting its prices up, but if he put on enough stamps for first class, it would go second class if it was now more than 17p. Severus handed over the letter to Wiggy.

"Toby," he said.

Toby was playing with LEGO, absolutely fascinated with it. He looked up, with a little smile.

"Yes, Dad?"

"Do you remember the nice lady who found you, and sat with you in hospital?" he asked.

Toby considered.

"Juliet," he said.

"Well done," said Severus. "Would you like to see her again?"

Toby considered, then nodded.

"Yes," he said. "I like her. We could have her as my mummy if you like. She's good at telling stories."

Severus spluttered.

"That's moving a little bit fast, old son," he said. "I think we need to just get to know her."

"All right," said Toby. "We can adopt her with a potion."

Severus decided to leave that remark unanswered.

"As to that potion, I have to say I'm curious to see if you will have my family's talent in potions, as your mummy was also good at it," he said. "May I cast a spell at you?"

"Will it hurt much?" Toby looked a bit scared.

"It won't hurt at all," assured Severus.

"Oh, that's fine then," said Toby, trying to look as though he had never been scared. It made him look, thought Severus, like a miniature Severus Snape. He was growing well with doing each day twice over, with the time-turner, sleeping at Potter Manor and returning to the beginning of the day there, to do lessons every other day.

Severus raised his wand and cast the familial trait spell.

He was relieved to see that Toby had a talent for potions as well as for charms; it was not surprising that he had the latent ability to be an animagus. Parseltongue was a shock. Had that come from Voldemort, through the cursed wound? Wondered Severus. No, for it would have disappeared as the wound did. The goblins had said something about him holding the blood of all the founders.

He cast the spell on himself.

Apparently he, too, was a latent animagus, and a parselmouth now, from the adoption ceremony.

That was very interesting.

OoOoOo

A brief correspondence with Juliet Victor led to Severus agreeing to a meeting in London. It was a neutral place. And now he was waiting nervously in the east end café he had designated as suitable. Somehow a 'greasy spoon' seemed more appropriate than a posh hotel.

She walked in looking as if she owned the earth, and Severus noticed for the first time that she was rather attractive.

"Mr. Snape! How kind of you to meet me," she said. "I'm sure I'm breaking more regulations than I ever broke in my life, but I was, as you suspected, very drawn to your son."

Severus took a deep breath and surreptitiously cast a notice-me-not and a muffliatus spell.

"Miss Victor, I fear I am going to quote from the film 'Star Wars' and tell you that you are about to take a step into a larger world. I am breaking a law which could put me in prison for life in doing so, but if you wish to have a future part of Toby's life, you need to know why I am hiding so much."

"I'm listening," said Juliet.

Severus conjured a bunch of roses from his wand, turned the teapot the waitress had brought into a dormouse and back again.

"I think that should demonstrate that I am a wizard without you thinking I'm an escaped lunatic," he said.

Her eyes lit up.

"So my mother's stories were true?" she said.

"I beg your pardon?"

"My mother said she was something called a squib, and that unfortunately I did not have the magic to be a witch," said Juliet. "She used to make wonderful cold cures, and I became interested in chemistry because of that."

"Ah!" Severus breathed out in relief. "Arguably, then, as you are already of a magical family, I'm not breaking the Statute of Secrecy so blatantly. Good; I have a lot to tell you, and having you willing to believe me will make it easier."

He proceeded to explain about Voldemort, Dumbledore, and even horcruces. Juliet listened, and asked the odd intelligent question to clarify things in her own head. They got through three pots of tea and a plate of ham and eggs. The tired waitress thought they were a sweet couple, maybe mature students.

"I want to be a part of Toby's life," said Juliet. "With the problems of having the supposed good guys being led by a manipulative old twazzock you need all the help you can get if the poor brat is supposed to fulfil a prophecy. Are you certain?"

"No, but everyone else is, which would make it self-fulfilling if they knew he was alive," said Severus. "Which is why he is officially dead. And if it falls to Toby to have to kill the dark lord, then believe me, I want him trained in everything he can be, in order to succeed."

Juliet nodded.

"I can teach him to shoot, and to do karate," she said. "In fact, I'll teach him Jeet Kune Do, JKD, which is a synthesis of several fighting styles, including dirty fighting. It was originated by Bruce Lee, who was actually good as well as being a movie star."

"I'll not object to learning those skills myself to help protect him," said Severus. "Good, I can organise a portkey for you to visit us, and get Griphook to add you to the wards we are having put up. I'll teach you how to brew those potions on the offchance you have enough magic to make them work; but you may not. Magic is a required ingredient; a catalyst, if you like."

Juliet nodded.

"It's worth seeing if I can," she said.

"Will you be able to keep an eye on the Dursley boy? Dudley?" asked Severus. "Toby's strength is his love. He has mentioned once or twice that he hopes Dudley is okay, and I have visions of him expecting me to take an interest in the child."

"I'll do my best," said Juliet. "He's in care at the moment, which between you and me means in very little care at all, but no foster family will keep him more than a few days."

"Poor little sod," said Severus. "Petunia has abused him as much as she has her nephew, but in a different way. Still, he's young, I hope he can learn. But I can't have him anywhere near Toby while he's likely to bully him."

"No, I can see that. When Toby is more confident, and has some knowledge of how to fight, then it might be possible to introduce them."

"And on paper they are half-brothers," said Severus. "Well! We shall cross that bridge in the future."

 **Chapter 6**

Since Juliet knew about the magical world, it was easy enough to arrange a portkey for her to visit the farmhouse. She blinked to see a table loaded with party food, and a huge cake.

"Toby! Come down and greet your guest!" Severus called.

Toby ran down the stairs and beamed at Juliet, and then screeched to a halt.

Juliet held out her arms, and the little boy ran into them.

"He's afraid of rejection still," said Severus.

"Poor Toby. I'll always like hugs," said Juliet.

"I like hugs," said Toby, into her chest. Juliet looked again at the party food, and asked the question that was puzzling her.

"I thought Toby was supposed to be born in September?" she asked, mildly. "Won't it be a risk?"

"Oh, we are having a 'just because' party," said Severus. "The elves were adamant that they wanted to celebrate the birthday of Harry Potter, so we shall do so, every year, to commemorate the boy who died a little bit. I wasn't planning on telling Dumbledore or the press."

"No, quite," said Juliet. "Toby, look at you, even in so short a time you are bigger and stronger!"

"I'm doing two days for one," said Toby.

"Timeturner," said Severus.

"Aren't they illegal? I visited Diagon Alley and bought some books," said Juliet.

"Oh bravo, that was courageous," said Severus. "Yes, they are illegal. So is ignoring a will and farming out a child on relatives who are bound to be abusive, just to keep him isolated. It didn't stop Dumbledore, and I have no intention of respecting the law if it gives that evil old man the chance to get his hands on Toby again. And getting him physically a good nine or ten months extra older by doing each day twice for a while should help no end. I was planning on having his exact chronological age work round to some time in the first week in September, which will be ten and a half months before Dudley was born, on the 23rd July. If we do take on Dudley, his birthday could merge with the memorial celebration, but it must be credible that Petunia gave birth to Toby first.

Juliet nodded, as Toby ran off happily to play with his toy magical stables, whose horses really flew a few inches above the ground. Juliet thought it charming that he was building extra stable blocks with his muggle LEGO.

"In effect, you weren't lying about this being over witness protection," Juliet said. "It is witness protection, of a child who might be the most important person in the world – if the prophecy is true."

"Big 'if', there," said Severus. "I spouted the stupid thing to the dark lord, as something to tell him, the seriousness with which he took it was a shock."

"Bear in mind that he, like me, was raised a muggle," said Juliet. "The idea that magic is true is so wonderful that I'm more likely to believe superstition of your world, and so was this dark lord."

"That's a good point," said Severus. "I want Toby to grow up able to fit into either society. Will you help me?"

"Gladly," said Juliet. "Will you help me to understand wizarding society?"

"Most certainly," said Severus. "I disapprove of the way many families discard their squib members, as though they were so much trash, you should have been reared with more knowledge."

"Oh well, I will have the fun of learning beside Toby, who also needs to learn," said Juliet. "Did he adapt well to his new name?"

"Well, as he had previously been called 'Freak' or 'boy', any name was good to him, especially one he had chosen," said Severus. "He was fast becoming 'The-boy-who-will-not-be-named, which is a far cry in such a loss of identity from someone who has chosen to make his name feared, like Tom Riddle or to lose his name for his own purposes, if one might pick from fiction, like the man with no name."

"You'll be giving him cultural references of film, then?"

"I enjoyed going to the movies, when I had the cash or could sneak in the back, when I was a kid," said Severus. "A lot of transfigurational skills require assimilative correlation by nomenclature, but by cultural reference is equally valid. I find transfiguration harder, so any way of giving him more cultural reference has to be good." He paused. "I was planning to try to get him to learn to control his magic without a wand," he said. "You never know when you will be disarmed, and I fear Ollivander's perspicacity; he is likely to recognise Toby as Harry by the kind of wand that will suit him."

"Won't a different upbringing affect that?" asked Juliet. Severus considered.

"It might, but Ollivander is, in his own way, something of a seer when it comes to wands, and matching them," he said. "I don't want to risk it, but he is the best. So any other wand maker will not be matching him to the best wand."

"I see. So a wand is not necessary?"

Severus gave a thin smile.

"To most wizards, it is a crutch they cannot do without. But essentially, yes, it is nothing but a focus. He has power and will and can overcome the need for a focus. Especially as I have unbound his magic, a common thing to do to toddlers who already use accidental magic, but I suspect it was bound by Dumbledore, not his parents. To unbind as a favour in future years, I suppose. Or to make him more tractable; with Dumbledore, who knows? Anyway, Goblins and Elves are not permitted wands, but they each perform their own brand of magic. Elves are especially attuned to extrinsic alteration by precision, the kind of spells we call 'charms' which alter the way things behave, not the way they actually are. Goblins are better at intrinsic alteration by precision, which is to say transfigurational spells, which include summoning. They are also good at arithmancy and runic magic. Binding their powers by banning the focus of a wand is, to my mind, both wrong and dangerous."

"Does that not conflict with your assertion that a wand is not necessary?"

"A paradox, apparently, and yet not. If he can control his magic without a wand, once he starts using one, even an inferior wand, he will be more powerful if he can function with or without a wand. And that gives him a chance against that madman of a Dark Lord."

"Assuming you believe in prophecy."

"I'm fairly sure I don't believe in prophecy but it remains that the dark lord does believe in it, and if anything slips out, he will be after Toby. Now his best defence is in it not slipping out, but I would rather plan for every contingency, including the prophesy actually being true."

"What, if anything, are you going to do about the Dursley boy?"

Severus shrugged angrily.

"It's not his fault, but I can hardly bring him into a magical family, can I?"

"You used a potion to adopt Toby. By the myth you have set up, Toby is Dudley's half brother. If you used an adoption potion with Dudley, might he not find some latent magic? It lies in the family. Indeed, it's not impossible that it would have surfaced when he was older. Just because Toby is using accidental magic very young doesn't mean all children do."

"It's a good point. What do you know about what's happened to Dudley?"

"Well, at first he was virtually uncontrollable, but having discovered that screaming doesn't get him his own way, and that bullying other kids means he loses treats, he's starting to learn to behave better," said Juliet. "He's getting more educational stimulus now as well, instead of the TV being used as a childminder. It's been said that if you have a child before they are five you can mould the man. And I fancy you might be able to use mind magic to remove the excessive repressions instilled by brainwashing against magic, which will inhibit him from using it if he is a later developer."

"Rather like children bullied, usually by muggles, who can block their own magic, and I'm thankful Toby didn't do that," said Severus. "Well, I will give it a go, and if it doesn't work, I'm sorry but he's going back into an orphanage until his parents get out."

oOoOo

With Juliet's help with muggle lessons, and the time-turner allowing extra time, Toby was soon growing fast and learning quicker than most children his age. Severus did not need to push him; he soaked up lessons like a sponge.

After three months, Severus sat him down.

"Toby," he said, "Do you remember Dudley?"

Toby shuddered.

"I don't want to," he said.

"Do you think you'd be a nice little boy if I let you shout at Wiggy if you were cross, and didn't ground you when you lost your temper?"

Toby flushed. Once he started finding his feet, he had pushed the boundaries.

"I would be horrid," he said. He had hated what he was doing when he found himself trying to push Wiggy about and was scared that he couldn't stop it without being told off.

"You knew you were bad, didn't you?"

Toby nodded.

"But you couldn't stop being bad."

Toby shook his head, his eyes filling with tears.

"Dudley was the same except he didn't know he was being bad," said Severus. "He had nobody to tell him."

"Oh!" said Toby. "Poor Dudley!"

"Yes," said Severus. "Do you think we should try to teach Dudley to be a nice little boy?"

Toby considered, and sighed, deeply.

"Doing what we ought isn't what I want," he said.

"I know. But if we can teach him to be nice, he would be a little brother to you; because you are older than he is."

"I s'pose," said Toby.

"I didn't think of bringing him here right away," said Severus. "I thought I might visit him and see how he is."

"Okay," said Toby, brightening.

 **Chapter 7**

The next piece of excitement happened in Crawley.

Severus and Juliet had taken Toby to the library and on due consideration, Severus had decided that stopping at Pizza Hut for a meal would not do any harm for once. Toby was negotiating the delights of an Americano Meat feast while Severus and Juliet shared a Hawaiian with a salad each, when there was a screech from a waitress.

Severus glanced over, and saw a cup hovering in mid air, apparently in a position where it had been dropped by a young girl about Toby's age with bushy brown hair. Her parents appeared horrified.

Severus was over in a bound, looking the waitress in the eyes.

"There's nothing to be concerned about," he said. "These are not the droids you are looking for. Move along."

"Nothin' to be concerned about …" the waitress moved off.

"He's a _Jedi_ ," said the little girl.

"May I?" Severus indicated the spare seat.

"Please," said the man.

Severus sat down.

"How often has she manifested magic?" he asked.

"You know about it?" The man glanced over at the table where Toby was sitting, staring.

"I'm a wizard," said Severus. "Not, I fear, a Jedi. My son is also a wizard. Your daughter is a witch. And I am afraid the wizarding world will fail you utterly until her eleventh birthday when you will get a letter out of the blue summoning her to Hogwarts School for Wizards and Witches, and if you are lucky, Min McGonagall will turn up and explain things to you. I, however, believe that those children who are what we call 'muggleborn', whose wizarding genes have been hidden for generations and suddenly manifest, should have guidance both in the use of their latent magic and in the etiquette of a world in which anyone who can use magic can accidentally hurt others."

"I hurt Tracey Bray when she twisted my arm but I don't know how," said the girl. "My name is Hermione; how do you do?" she put out a hand.

"Delightful manners," said Severus. "I am Severus Snape, and my son is Toby. His tutor, Juliet, is more or less a member of the family, and I will be applying to adopt his … half brother, who is in care. Who may, or may not prove to be a wizard. He has shown no signs as yet; both his parents are muggles, but there is magic in the family, as, evidently in yours."

"Dan and Emma Granger," said the man. "We're dentists, and much as I would love to pooh-pooh the existence of magic, the things Hermione has done cannot be denied. Is it … reproducible?"

"Oh, perfectly," said Severus. "Some children are stronger than others; but then, some children with other talents have more of a talent than others. Mozart was composing motets at six, very few children manage to even play a recognisable tune at that age."

"An excellent analogy," said Emma Granger, looking pleased.

"And understandable," said Dan.

Severus nodded.

"We have magical laws in the same way that there are physical laws, and energy is conserved; there are no paradoxes to the second law of thermodynamics, though it may not seem so to muggle, non-magical, observers," said Severus. "Children generally channel most magic through themselves which is why they eat more, to conserve their own energy. As they grow older, they learn to channel magical power, like the force, from the life-energy of their surroundings. I … I would like to offer Hermione lessons at the weekends, and give my own son a playmate, unless they fail to hit it off."

"That … that would be useful, if you can help her not to put out all the lights in the street if she has a nightmare," said Emma. "Oh hush, Dan, it wasn't a coincidence. Was it?" she asked Severus.

"No," said Severus. "Hermione seems to be a powerful and talented witch and needs training, before anything breakable, like Crawley, is affected by her magic."

"Isn't that an exaggeration?" asked Dan.

"Yes, but she could disrupt all the traffic lights and lead to mayhem," said Severus.

"I take your point," said Dan.

Juliet brought Toby over.

"We appear to be moving seats?" she said.

They all relocated to the long table for parties, and Severus left Hermione and Toby to get on with getting to know each other while he and Juliet filled in the Grangers on the wizarding world.

"How fortunate that we decided to ignore the fact that pizza is not very healthy and to come in here," said Emma. "Just imagine, if we had gone to any other fast-food place!"

"Sometimes, I believe fate intervenes," said Severus. "There are dark things also in the wizarding world, and one day when little pitchers are nowhere near, I will fill you in on them, and why Toby needs good friends to give him as good a childhood as he can have. I won't hide any of it as would be hidden from you to make you believe that Hogwarts is the safest place on earth and it will be wonderful. It is necessary for Hermione to learn and a school is the best place, and Hogwarts has some good teachers. It also," he added, "Has some direly bad teachers. I used to teach there; I left to care for my son. Whose history I will explain at some point. However, I will be giving her a thorough grounding."

"Thank you," said Dan.

oOoOo

Having a friend to come over on Saturdays gave Toby more confidence, and Dan and Emma listened, shocked, as Severus shared the whole truth with them.

Nobody in the wizarding world was likely to ask muggles, anyway. And Toby needed to have muggles in his life who were good parents as an aunt and uncle to give him a better idea of real aunts and uncles, since Juliet scarcely counted, as she was more or less of the Wizarding World anyway. Dan and Emma needed to know why he was fragile and why he might cavil at calling them 'aunt' and 'uncle'. And they deserved to know what they were getting into, to avoid being conned by Dumbledore and to go to France if they wanted to so that Hermione could enter Beauxbatons.

"I'd think less of myself if I didn't hope that my daughter would stand by her friend," said Dan. "But you told us Sirius Black was in prison for something he did not do; what are you doing to put that right?"

Severus froze.

"I'm afraid I forgot about him," he said. "My bad. I'll talk to Griphook about it, and see that the goblins do something about it."

"Good; I can see you dislike him, but injustice can't be allowed to continue," said Dan.

"No; you're right, and when you and Hermione have gone home, I'll see to that," said Severus. "I am going to set you up a gate to make coming back and forth easier; too many people would find out if I added you to the floo network. I think a good password would be 'Bantha tracks', which would mean you could use it too in an emergency to come here."

"And hope we don't have an emergency," said Dan.

"I can't guarantee a Death Eater might not get hold of data on accidental magic and come to kill Hermione," said Severus. "I think it unlikely, but I don't rule it out."

"Understood," Dan nodded.

oOoOo

The beauty of having Gringott's raise a question on the validity of Sirius Black's conviction meant that he, Severus, would not be involved. Black would doubtless be released and would spend time in St Mungo's, and would learn that his godson was dead. With luck, he would find out it was Dumbledore's fault and would try to kill the evil old fool. At the least he was likely to contact the werewolf and see if they could run down Pettigrew. It would keep Black out of his hair.

And if he could deal with Pettigrew that would be one less Death Eater.

And what about Lucius?

For all his faults, Lucius loved Narcissa and Draco. If he could be convinced that there was another way than to crawl back to the hem of Voldemort's robes if … when … he returned, he would be a useful ally. The thought of his little dragon being under such subjection would surely sway him. Especially if they could go hunting horcruces together.

But that was not urgent; and Severus might just set in motion the retrial of Sirius Black using veritaserum. Or, as it turned out, set in motion the first trial of Sirius Black, since the man had been imprisoned on assumption.

And Dumbledore had done nothing.

Why? It was almost as if he was doing everything he could to make it easy for Voldemort.

And maybe in a way he was.

If he knew that the cursed scar was a horcrux then his plan appeared to revolve around telling Harry Potter that he was destined to be a saviour, and sending him cowed and ill-prepared against Voldemort, in the hopes that Voldemort would kill the Boy-Who-Lived and become the Dark-Lord-Who-Died through it.

That actually made sense, in a warped sort of way.

If he knew the horcrux was gone, he might even be able to be worked with … no, not after what he had deliberately done to Lily's son. He was too secretive, too manipulative. The enemy of my enemy is only my friend if I know what he's up to, thought Severus. And one would only know what Dumbledore was up to when he was dead and buried.

The alternative, that he really was Voldemort's man, made Severus' blood run cold. It was not impossible. Dumbledore was a sucker for a pretty man, and when he spoke of Gellert Grindelwald, Severus was convinced he had the hots for the man, even though he had killed him. Dumbledore had made more than one pass at Severus, and Severus strongly suspected that the handsome Tom Riddle had moved him more than a little, perhaps a reason Dumbledore had not protested the expulsion of Hagrid for something Severus suspected Tom of doing. Hagrid was not the sharpest stick in the bundle, and a lonely little boy like Severus had found him a safe, if frustrating, haven, who knew a lot about Hogwarts in the time of Tom Riddle as a prefect and head boy. Severus Snape, potions master, sometime spy and afraid that a 15 month baby could not have got rid of Voldemort for good, had recalled that old ally and had quietly pumped Hagrid.

However, somehow Severus thought that this was not the case. Dumbledore hated what Voldemort was. He might not go about it the right way, but he hated the evil. Ironic that he was become almost as evil in his own way as Voldemort himself, and more ironic that he would never ever see it.

Well, the next thing was to check on Dudley Dursley and see if losing his pampered life had turned him into a more reasonable human being, or whether it had hardened him into something irretrievable.

It was a tricky thing to get the timing right, long enough to realise that he wasn't going back to Tuney and the Whale, and yet not too long to make him truculent.

 **Chapter 8**

Dudley looked fearfully at the tall, black-haired man with a grim face. He whimpered, and shuffled as far away as he could.

"Hello, Dudley," said Severus, sitting down. "You don't look very happy here."

Dudley regarded him thoughtfully.

"You aren't like the other social workers," he said.

"I'm not a social worker, powers forfend," said Severus.

"I don't suppose you can do anything about them," said Dudley. "They're rotten bullies, the big ones."

"Ah," said Severus. "Not as much fun for you when you're on the receiving end as when you were doing it to your cousin?"

"Dad said I had to, because he was a freak."

"And that's why your dad is in prison," said Severus.

"Am I in prison?" asked Dudley.

"In a way," said Severus. "It's a place to try to show you how to behave but if there are bullies here, it doesn't look as though it works very well. You look a lot fitter though, now nobody is force-feeding you sweeties all day long."

"It was awful when I didn't have any at first!" burst out Dudley. "I sort of got used to it."

"I bet you aren't as short of breath," said Severus.

"Well, no, and I can run away from them better," said Dudley.

"Sweets are fine in moderation," said Severus, "But the amount your mother was feeding you could have killed you."

"I don't want to die," said Dudley, "But THEY'LL kill me, the big ones. I'm not as fat but my skin hangs down and they say I'm an elephant. And they say I killed my cousin and I didn't, it was my dad."

"I know it wasn't you. Well then, a lot will depend on whether you are prepared to learn that what your father called 'freaks' are people too, won't it?" said Severus.

Dudley looked scared.

"You ain't going to call me a liar because the fr … because HE could do weird things?" he said. "They punished me for telling them the truth!"

"That is harsh," said Severus. "Unfortunately, they, being unable to use magic, won't believe in it, and that's the way we usually like to keep it. But like it or not, you come from a family which has magic in it. Your aunt, Lily, was a very fine witch. Your mother was not a witch. But you might be a wizard. Don't you think you'd like that?" His surreptitious wand work showed that it was close, but unlikely to express without a little … help. A familial potion would help.

"I … I don't know," said Dudley.

Severus peered into the child's eyes to take him back to when Harry arrived, mostly being indifferent to the newcomer except that his father was angry. Incidences of Harry, overcoming the binding Dumbledore had put on his magic, and Dudley being scared but envious had Severus emphasising the envy. He implanted a desire to know more about magic, and gently leaned on the little boy to think his parents silly to fear and hate it.

"Did you want a real family again?" he asked. "You'd be the younger brother to my son."

"You bet!" said Dudley. "Unless he beats on me."

"He won't," said Severus.

This was going to take confundment because there was no way that this child would be allowed out for adoption, since he had parents who might be expected to get out of jail sooner or later.

Oh well.

He got out his wand.

"First, let's get rid of the elephant skin," he said, casting a skin-tightening spell. Dudley gasped, and looked down at himself. It had the apparent effect of making him look even less fat. Severus grinned. "And now I know how much is you and how much was skin, we'll get rid of the rest of the fat the quick way," he said, waving his wand in the complex medical transfiguration.

Dudley gasped.

"I don't care about it being freaky, it's a lot easier," he said.

"Yes, but you'll want to exercise to keep it from coming back," said Severus. "Drink this."

He had prepared another familial potion; he had no intention of being related to Dudley, but there was no reason Dudley should not have more of Toby in him and some of his new father as well. If the poor brat could do magic he would feel less left out.

And Petunia had no right turning her son into a miniature whale, it was almost as abusive as what she had done to her nephew.

The potion slimmed Dudley's face, and his hair went a darker shade, almost brown. His blue, rather protuberant eyes became green. He looked a lot like Toby now, a miniature Snape.

"And would you like to change your name as well?" asked Severus to the sleepy child.

"I dunno," said Dudley.

oOoOo

Toby and Dudley surveyed each other.

"He doesn't look like Dudley," said Toby.

"I never met you before, how would you know?" said Dudley, sulkily. Toby had grown a lot, and had more self confidence as well as being more filled out now.

"He's seen you before," said Severus.

"Dudley is a stupid name," said Toby. "I think you ought to change it now you're going to be my brother."

Dudley made sparks come out of his fingers in agitation, and stared down at his hand.

"Did I do fre… magic?" he said.

"You did, and I think you need a better name for a wizard than Dudley," said Severus."

"Gordon, after the big engine?" said Toby, tentatively.

"No, he's not going to be pompous and badly behaved," said Severus. "He's going to be a Really Useful, er, brother."

"Thomas, then," decided Toby. "Toby and Thomas Snape."

"Ok," said Dudley/Thomas. "They made fun of my name too and called me 'Diddikins' which Mummy called me but they made it an insult."

"Thomas it is, then," said Severus. "And we'll go up to Gringott's tomorrow and get the adoption sorted out through them, not the ministry."

oOoOo

"Lucius, you have a son, and a lovely wife. Do you really want to bow to the dark lord when he returns?"

The pale, blond wizard paled further.

"He's dead," he said.

"If you believe that, I have the philosopher's stone I can lend you," scoffed Severus.

"If he can return from the dead, we have no choice, he is too powerful, he …."

"Stop panicking, Lucius, and listen," said Severus. "The reason he is powerful and immortal is because he has horcruces. Plural."

Lucius swore pungently in several languages, some of which were not actually dead.

Severus just smiled.

"Very well, Severus, plainly you think we have a solution. Which without the Boy-Who-Lived and the prophecy about him seems unlikely."

"The Boy-Who-Lived was a horcrux, Lucius. By dying, one horcrux is destroyed," said Severus. "That was what the prophecy meant. All we have to do is to track down the other horcruces and destroy them."

"All, he says. I am not working for Dumbledore, he's a meddlesome old fool and he has done his best to make students in Slytherin isolated in the school by making everyone else distrust them."

"Not that you didn't go out of your way in your time to reinforce that belief," said Severus. "But yes, on the whole, I agree and I have nothing to do with the flatulent old windbag. I have my sons to think of, and you have yours."

"I heard you slipped away from one of the Dark Lord's revels to do Lily Evans' sister instead," said Lucius.

"Yes, Lucius, I think you've reported rumour pretty closely there," said Severus. "His half-brother is also a wizard, so I now have two sons, who would both be in the same year as Draco; and we have met a very clever and powerful little muggleborn witch, also the same age. Are you going to put aside your antipathy for muggleborns to help me and have the chance to survive when the dark lord reappears or are you going to stubbornly hold on to your beliefs and … Lucius, I'm going to legilimens you because I think you have been tampered with."

"Nobody tampers with a Malfoy with impunity!"

"Well we shall see who, if anyone, is about to be under your ire, shan't we?" said Severus, levelling his want. "Legilimens!"

The compulsion was there; more subtle than Dumbledore's brute force introduction into his own mind, a compulsion working on Lucius Malfoy's arrogance and sense of self worth as a lord of the wizarding world and a pure blood wizard.

Severus smiled, showed it to Lucius, and undid it.

"The work of Tom Riddle, otherwise known as the dark lord, and do not say his name; I am reliably informed that he may, even in a disembodied state, be able to hear it spoken."

"He has lost my loyalty in that one act of mistrust," said Lucius, flatly. "The reason I dislike muggleborns is that they have no knowledge of our ways and customs and flout them and act like they are better than we are."

"Which is why I am bringing up my sons and teaching Miss Granger to respect our custom, lore and ways, whilst subverting them to disregard the validity of our ruling body and to continually question all motives."

"Training your own followers? Even the dark lord never picked them that young."

"Training those who, if the timing of the prophecy can be followed, will be teens or young adults when the dark lord arises again. I could do the same for Draco, but only if you commit fully to me."

"I … very well, Severus. I dislike intensely not being in charge, but I have to admit you seem to know more than I."

Severus looked into his eyes, and nodded, satisfied. What he saw was a desire to protect Draco above anything else.

"In that case I will tell you the whole truth, Lucius," he said. "You may tell Narcissa but only if she takes a vow of not discussing it with anyone who does not already know."

"The whole truth?"

Severus told him about who Toby Snape really was, and how Dumbledore had been leaving the little boy to be abused in order to make him more controllable.

Lucius clenched his fists, clearly imagining such things done to his Draco.

"I'm your man, Severus, against both evil dictators," he said.

"And to think I gave up teaching, only to end up teaching," laughed Severus.

It was a nice little group now.

oOoOo

The goblin demand to know why a prominent client of Gringott's had never had a trial hit the headlines,and when Amelia Bones and Rufus Scrimgeour went looking for the trial transcripts to refute this, they discovered that there had, indeed, been no trial. The goblins claimed that a Potter house elf, now employed with the nearest Potter relative, had made a statement that Sirius Black was not the secret keeper.

Sirius Black was retrieved from Azhkaban and under Veritaserum revealed that he had not betrayed his best friend, nor had he killed eleven muggles and Peter Pettigrew but had tried to stop Pettigrew from getting away.

A free pardon was issued, there being no other way in the realm of England that someone can be released from prison, even when it was the fault of the authorities that they are there, a vindication of Sirius Black was printed in the newspapers, and compensation was offered and contemptuously refused.

Sirius Black was almost inconsolable when he discovered that Harry Potter was dead, and had to be confined to the Janus Thickey ward.

Oh well, thought Severus, it had been too much to hope that the mutt would get mad enough to try to get even. Hot-tempered he may once have been, but the despairs of Azhkaban, and the need to be able to be there for his godson had eroded that ardour. Pity. So many jokes about hotdogs and keen as the mustard on them, if one did not eat them in the barbaric way some people did, with ketchup. Well, maybe the mutt would be out of the secure ward one day, and might be expected to rip out Dumbledore's throat. One might hope.

 **Chapter 9**

Draco was a bit of a brat, and rather spoilt, and Thomas recognised his attitude. He whispered to Severus,

"New Dad, he's like I was, only not fat."

"Wizards have ways of dealing with fat, but you're right. It's up to you to help your brother and your friend Hermione to stop him being like that."

Thomas nodded seriously.

Draco took some time to settle down; he was upset that the mudblood girl was stronger than he was in magic, and that she and the older of the two Snape boys could outperform him. He tried to ignore the muggle parents of Hermione, and Juliet, and found himself in serious trouble from Uncle Severus. He talked his mother into joining a lesson, to put the muggles down, but Narcissa found she had more in common with Emma Granger and Juliet Victor than she had expected, love of their respective children not being the least. And Juliet thought of Toby at least as partly hers. Narcissa did not want to become like her sister, Bellatrix, and nor did she want to kiss the robe of Voldemort when he returned, and if Severus had a plan, and his son was able to grow up to be the Chosen One, she was not about to dispute that! Lucius was suave enough to be able to find temporal power and that would do for him.

And Lucius was actually hoping to be one of those leading people against Voldemort when he arose again, and gaining power by being a saviour. He had already pleased Severus by recalling that there was a book which had been left with him, an insignificant diary, which had turned out to be a horcrux. Narcissa had suggested to the goblins, when they had taken it to be destroyed, that they ask for powers of proxy from Lord Black until his full recovery, in order to check the account of Bellatrix Black Lestrange for dark items.

The goblin bankers could be very persuasive, and it had turned up another horcrux.

This meant that both Malfoy adults were in good odour with the goblins, which was not to be despised.

Severus and Lucius were trying to find out more about Tom Riddle's early life, to give them clues, which meant that Lucius had to do what he could as a governor of Hogwarts to track down his school career. The purebloods were amazed by how much the muggle police could do when Juliet put in her twopennorth worth as a SOCO, and managed to trace the muggle orphanage in which he had grown up, and its sketchy records, including those of a visit to the seaside where two other orphans had made a complaint against Tom.

Lucius and Severus made a trip to the sea cave, with Dan Granger, because he was a competent rower.

They left him in the first cave.

"I know Riddle's views about muggles, and I think taking you any further would be seriously dangerous," said Severus, once he had discovered the blood-warded door.

"I confess I have a bad feeling about this," said Dan, "But if the idea is to weaken anyone else, why not use my blood for this door in case there are more in the future? The idea of a muggle helping to destroy a muggle-hater tickles my sense of humour."

Severus nodded.

"Very well; it might not work but it's worth a try."

Dan's blood worked well enough.

"Maybe the creep set it up so he'd use a sacrifice from someone else," said Dan.

"That I wouldn't put past him," said Severus.

Even Lucius shuddered over the eerie green light from the island in the middle of the lake. They found the rickety boat and rowed over to discover that nothing was going to reduce the level of the fluid in the bowl in which the presumed horcrux lay.

"We're going to have to drink it, I fear," said Severus. "And I wager it will not be anything benign."

"We could summon house elves to drink it," said Lucius.

"Have you no noblesse oblige?" asked Severus, scornfully. "We could summon house elves to watch over us while we take turns to drink it."

"No; one of us must survive with magic intact. We'll toss for it," said Lucius, "And I'll call house elves to help us."

Lucius lost, and not without fear, under the curious eyes of his elves he drank.

"Severus … you are going to have to make me do this at wand point," he croaked.

"Powers, Lucius …"

"We need to get the thing," said Lucius. "Dobby! Make me keep drinking!"

"Yes, master," squeaked the little creature, reluctantly. "All of master's elveses could have a cupful to reduce it. Elveses is more resistant to poison. We does not think masters should be hurt!"

"One cup each? And I'll take one too," said Severus .

"You will not!" snapped Lucius. "Yes, Dobby, but first bring water, pure fresh water."

"Go raid a muggle supermarket for bottled springwater," said Severus.

Tesco's in Sidmouth never did find out who stole all the Buxton springwater from their shelves that day.

With the help of the elves, the fluid was reduced, and Severus lifted out the locket. Lucius greedily downed several bottles of spring water, the elves given permission to help themselves too.

The locket had a piece of paper in it, with the message to the dark lord that his horcrux would be destroyed, signed RAB.

"Regulus," hissed Lucius.

"He had a special relationship with an elf called Kreacher," said Severus. "If he's still alive he'll be at the Black residence …."

"…. And Narcissa can call on him to bring her the horcrux if Regulus did not manage to destroy it," said Lucius. "Well, we haven't entirely wasted our time and good health."

"You'll be drinking some nutrient potions and calming potions back home, and so will your elves," said Severus.

oOoOo

Kreacher cracked his fingers a few times and finally admitted to Narcissa that he had been used by the dark lord to test the vile potion, but even under attack from inferii in the lake remembered his Master Regulus' orders to go home. He sobbed through the story of how Regulus had insisted on drinking it himself, and had given him the horcrux to destroy, which he had been unable to do. Narcissa sent him to get it, and another trip was made to Gringotts. Kreacher begged to serve Narcissa, and she gave him permission to do so. The old elf was aggressively servile, and it would have put him in danger from Sirius Black when the half-insane dog animagus returned to his own home.

"Do we have any idea how many more of these things there might be?" asked Dan.

"None at all," said Lucius. "I wouldn't think you could split your soul many times without going insane, and he was not that tightly wrapped by the end."

"He was reared a muggle," said Severus. "And being reared a muggle was why he believed in prophecy. He discovered magic was real, and so he also felt that the fairy stories were real too. In all good fairy stories, the magical numbers three and seven occur over and over."

"So you think having dealt with three we might have them?"

"We have dealt with four," said Severus. "The scar was one as well. And he will have used one to survive his unexpected demise when he killed the Potters."

"So there are three more."

"One more," said Severus. "He used one. We have four. He had his own life, ie one of the seven parts would have to be his own consciousness."

"Do you think he made the scar as one deliberately?" asked Lucius.

"Maybe not, but he had plainly done the planning towards it," said Severus. "Therefore there is one left and the receptacle of the one he used. So far the goblins have agreed that the ones we have taken them were active, so we may research one which is now inactive."

Lucius nodded.

"It makes sense," he said. "Unless he makes one more when he does return, to replace the one he used."

"That we shall have to take into consideration," said Severus. "Juliet has tracked down a house belonging to a family called Riddle who were murdered by means unknown, which suggests the killing curse to me. We can go there, and see what we can find, and if there is a wizarding community nearby.

This trip was postponed for a while, as the needs of the children came first, and neither Lucius nor Severus wanted to deplete their magical cores by overextending themselves.

"I know we have a muggle policewoman helping, but why hasn't Dumbledore tracked these damned items down before?" demanded Lucius.

"Be fair; only former Death Eaters could get their hands on the first three," said Severus, "And Dumbledore, for all his vaunted love of muggles, can't work muggle technology to save his life, and wouldn't have a clue how to interrogate a computer, or run through records on microfiche. Though that does work better set to scroll and enchanted to flash when a particular word comes up, like doing a magical search in a physical book."

"It made a lot of difference, I can tell you, once you told me what you could do," said Juliet.

There was nothing in the Riddle house. There was no local magical community, and it was only by luck that the searchers stumbled on the Gaunt shack, largely because Juliet had come along, and found herself stopped dead at a muggle repelling ward.

"I don't want to take down that ward in case anything is dangerous to muggles," said Severus.

Lucius, who was skilled at enchanting, pointed his wand at Juliet's watch, and proceeded to perform a short ritual.

"Now when you're in contact with that, you will be able to pass muggle-repelling wards and see things that are normally hidden, like Hogwarts school and magical animals," he said.

"Thank you," said Juliet.

Lucius was to be very glad he had done this.

After passing through a number of other wards, both he and Severus almost lunged for the table where the ring sat, to be hauled back by the backs of their robes by Juliet.

"Have you gone insane? Do you want to kill yourselves by touching something dark with your bare hands?" she demanded.

"It's calling," said Severus.

"Get out of this room," said Juliet, almost physically dragging them. Once out, they shuddered and looked at her with respect.

"I owe you one for that," said Lucius. "The attraction was incredible."

"It's probably a trap for Dumbledore," said Severus. "And I, too, acknowledge a life debt."

"Yes, and I'm going to take a metal flask and a pair of tongs and put the damned thing inside metal," said Juliet. "You boys stay out here."

"Bossy, ain't she?" said Lucius.

"I don't care; bossy saved us both," said Severus. "I … am very fond of Juliet."

"Then just snog her into submission and marry her," said Lucius.

"I've been trying to get him to do this for a while," said Juliet, exiting. "No attraction from the wretched thing for me. Gringott's?"

"Gringott's," agreed Severus.

oOoOoOo

The wedding of Juliet Victor to Severus Snape was a quiet affair but the celebrants were very happy.

Hermione and Toby were now eight years old, and Draco and Thomas some nine months younger, and though Severus had discussed with Dan and Emma Granger the possibility of using a time turner to place the two older ones in the previous year's intake, it was decided to leave them all together. Thomas was not as magical as his brother, and would rely on Toby's help, and with Lucius suspected of having been a Death Eater, Draco would have to be protected from bullying instigated by Dumbledore without Severus there as head of Slytherin House to protect him.

 **Chapter 10.**

Hermione Jane Granger had gone up to senior school quite happily two years early at the age of just turned nine, having passed the eleven plus to one of the few grammar schools left in Britain, so that she might have the advantage of three full years secondary education before going to Hogwarts, since if she had remained with her chronological age, she would have already done one year in secondary education before Hogwarts would send for her. Hermione loved learning, and as Severus saw a lot of use in the muggle sciences to translate into magic, he had suggested it to both stretch Hermione, and remove her from the bullies who picked on her for being a swot at her current muggle school. The Grangers had bought a small house in Ashford, in Kent, to qualify for the extremely good local grammar school, and Severus had set up a gate between it and their own house so that Hermione could easily go to school without them losing their practice in Crawley and so there was an address for school mail.

Hermione insisted on teaching her cohorts what she had learned at the weekend as well as learning magical and wizarding etiquette skills and the boys resignedly put up with it. Thomas actually found the synthesis of chemistry and potions quite useful, for he was not as stupid as he had appeared in the stultifying atmosphere of his parents' house, and then cowed in the orphanage. He was developing into a lad who was good with his hands, and Lucius had been working with him in developing a skill in enchantment. None of them would come to any harm learning mathematics; it would put them ahead in arithmancy, and Severus bought arithmancy text books so they might study it ahead of the electives.

And all of them would go to school knowing how to heal wounds, mend torn books, cast a shield charm and perform a sufficient number of jinxes and corridor curses to discourage any bullies, and since they learned in Potter Manor, the ministry would assume any magic to be elf magic and would ignore it.

oOoOo

"It was hilarious when Madam McGonagall turned up," said Hermione. "We were all wide-eyed and incredulous, and when Dad said 'well that explains a few things,' I thought I was going to crack up. We are going to Diagon Alley to get all my kit with Toby, are we?"

"Yes, and we'll be outfitting Thomas too, and there's no point going until the beginning of the next summer holidays as you'll all have grown," said Severus.

"And Mum said we'd grow like hemp to spite her and Dad if we did go early," said Toby. "We can all meet other people then."

"We might go up so our girl can legitimately have seen all the books she's already read here," said Dan. "'Hogwarts: a History' is decidedly dog-eared anyway and needs replacing, as is 'Fantastic Beasts and where to find them.'"

"And there might be arithmancy books that are interesting, and rune books," said Hermione. "I'm going to take Maths GCSE this year, which is two years early for my school year but they wanted to do something to stop me getting bored."

"It won't come amiss and it won't matter if your grade is poor," said Emma.

"But it probably won't be," grinned Dan. "And while we're in London we can get her muggle books about things like fractals which are maths out of my league, but she eats them for breakfast."

"Yes, if you apply the iterations of fractal geometry to a spell like say the tickling curse, you can make it start with a small tickle at the toes and grow like a vine of tickling all over the body," said Hermione. "Much more subtle than a tickle over a four inch area of wherever it lands."

The boys proceeded to prove that tickles with real fingers were equally effective and Hermione had to call pax.

"I'm so glad we met you," she said, hugging the boys in forgiveness. "If I'd only found out about magic this year, I wouldn't have had as much chance to learn that there are different rules of behaviour, and that using a quill teaches us to focus our minds to help train us with spellcraft, and I bet I'd have made myself obnoxious by asking too many questions."

"You did," grinned Toby, "But fortunately I wasn't much further on than you in knowing the answers so I let you ask Dad for the both of us. And for Thomas when he joined us."

"I grew up with such things," said Draco.

"No, Dragon, you grew up knowing how to write with a quill. You didn't know why either," said Hermione, affectionately. "Put away the pureblood snob or I'll laugh at it."

"I'm nervous about school," said Draco.

"We won't let any self-opinionated Dumbles supporter hurt you," said Toby.

oOoOo

The train was magnificent, they had to admit it. Dan and Emma had driven Toby and Thomas to school, their trunks shrunk and featherlight, with a dedicated wand to reverse this at the other end, since they were supposed to be spells beyond first years. Severus had taken Toby to France to get a wand, and Toby has a most unusual wand, of spliced yew and elder, and a runespoor spinal cord core. Thomas had been fitted out by Ollivander without trouble, with an oak wand with a griffin hair core.

"Sounds like a Gryffindor's wand," laughed Severus.

"I'll go into whatever house Toby goes into," said Thomas, stubbornly.

"That's likely enough to be Ravenclaw," said Severus. "However, even if all four of you end up in different houses, you can still be friends and don't let anyone tell you any different."

They were pondering this and discussing it when Draco arrived, looking white and peaked.

"I … I guess most people in Slytherin would follow my lead because of who Dad is," he said, "But it won't be much fun if they're all wanting to be Death Eaters."

"We'll hold out for staying together," said Hermione. "Why don't you want to think of another house?"

"Because my family have always been Slytherin, and because I don't see why I should chicken out of being Slytherin just because the headmaster has a down on it," said Draco.

"Spoken like a Gryffindor," teased Toby.

The door of the compartment they had baggsed was opened and two identical red haired boys looked in.

"Ooh look, Gred, ickle firsties! What was spoken like a Gryffindor?"

"My desire to show up that Slytherin house isn't just for Death Eaters, so there," said Draco.

"Well, well, a snake with courage? That'll be a first," said one.

"I agree, Forge," said the other.

"We're in Gryffindor, house of the brave," said Forge.

"Did you think it was funny, mixing up names and pretending to be one person?" asked Hermione.

"Goodness, another firstie capable of speaking," said Fred, or George.

"We're capable of staying silent, too," said Toby, smiling gently.

"Yes, go and look in the mirror to find out how we can stay silent together," said Hermione.

The twins looked at each other, and each became aware that the other no longer had ginger hair. Fred had purple hair with green polka dots, and George's hair was in a leopardskin pattern in orange and bilious violet.

"These firsties," said Fred

"Are ok," said George.

"Nicely pranked!" they added together.

"But don't do it to our firstie brother," said Fred.

"He'd probably tell," said George. "Will it wear off?"

"Should do," said Draco, laconically.

"We want you in Gryffindor," said Fred.

"We want to restore the reputation of Slytherin," said Toby.

"Ok, well, it's a worthy goal," said George. "Good luck; and stick together against bullies."

"We do," said Hermione. "We thought you were going to be some of them."

The twins exchanged hurt looks.

"That smarts!" they both said.

"We better tone it down to firsties," said Fred,

"In case more of them think we bully them," said George.

"Except Ronniekins who almost asks to be bullied," they said in one voice, laughed, and went out, describing their hair to each other, and going in search of a mirror to enjoy it more.

"Well they were more harmless than they looked," said Thomas. "Their brother sounds as though he's a bit of a mummy's boy though."

"Well, be fair, having twin brothers must be a bit much," said Toby. "We can give him a chance, I guess."

They went in search of Ronnikins, and found him holding forth about how all Slytherin were evil and anyone wanting to be put in that house should be put down. They decided to stop giving him a chance.

"Have you seen my toad?" a chubby, anxious boy asked. "He's called Trevor, and he's gone missing."

"Not a very affectionate familiar," drawled Draco. The boy flushed.

"I inherited him, like my wand," he said.

"That's not right," said Toby. "The wand should match the wizard. Or witch," he added hastily as Hermione cleared her throat. "You won't perform as well."

"I'm practically a squib anyway," said the boy.

"Well, I'm no great shakes, but the right wand makes all the difference," said Thomas, indignantly. "It took four goes to get the right wand for me, and it's smashing!"

"We can write to Dad," said Toby. "Meantime we need to find Trevor. _Accio_ Trevor!" he cast, and a most surprised toad came flying through the air. Toby caught the amphibian and passed him over to the boy.

"Gosh!" said he. "How did you do that?"

"Read on in the book," said Toby, laconically. "Toby Snape."

"Neville Longbottom," said Neville.

"Hermione Granger, my brother Thomas, and Draco Malfoy," said Toby. "You look lonely, do you want to sit with us?"

"That would be nice, thanks," said Neville. "My gran doesn't like your dad, Draco."

Draco shrugged.

"My dad doesn't like a lot of people. But it needn't affect us. I don't long to be a Death Eater if that's what you want to know."

"Oh, well, yeah, thanks," said Neville. "I expect I'll end up in Hufflepuff."

"Coming to school alone without expectation of doing much magic is real courage," said Toby. "We really must get you a better wand. But meantime, if you concentrate on wandless magic, any wand will make it seem easier. It's how we helped Thomas."

By the time they had to put on robes, Neville was able to make a feather twitch without his wand which was, as he said, better than he had been able to manage with a wand. To Hermione, who had been levitating things wandlessly since she was six, this seemed extraordinary, but she managed the tact not to say so.

And Neville was strongly considering trying to join his kind classmates in Slytherin House just to be with convivial people.

 **Chapter 11**

The arrival at the castle was exciting and scary, and the huge man who called for first years was scary in his own right, but his voice was kind. The children knew he was Hagrid, and Severus had told them that he might be as thick as a brick but he was someone they could go to if they were in a fix, because he was kindly, and had been unjustly expelled over something which was never specified which Tom Riddle had done, before he became the dark lord.

Severus had told them that the goblins had a prophecy which said that Toby would grow up to fight the dark lord but as most prophecies were bunk, he need not trouble himself too much about it, but should be ready to stand up for what was right because it was the duty of everyone to stand up for what was right. If it happened to fulfil a prophecy as well, well then that pleased those who believed in that sort of thing.

Toby thought it sounded very silly, but of course, his dad was quite right. Dad was always right.

The castle was impressive, and it was just as well that it was Toby who had let Neville take his place in a boat with the other three, since he was the placid one, and therefore did not throw either Ronald Weasley or Blaise Zabini into the lake. He pulled a rueful face at the boy called Theodore Nott, who gave him a thoughtful look.

"Where do you hope to be?" asked Theodore.

"Slytherin; it needs people to make its reputation better," said Toby. Theodore's face clouded.

"A lot of us have fathers who were Death Eaters," he said.

"It doesn't mean that some fathers haven't wised up, or that their children can't wise up," said Toby.

"Death Eater families are always evil!" said Ron Weasley.

"I never saw anyone with two arseholes before," said Toby, in a wondering tone. "And one of them in the face, too! How extraordinary! Unless his mouth is in his bum and he eats by sticking food up it."

Theodore laughed and Ron went redder than his hair in fury.

Zabini seemed too stuck up to have anything to do with any of them, and if he felt that way, it was his loss.

In the castle, a tall witch with a high hat ushered the first years forward, and one at a time, from Hannah Abbot, they went to sit under a battered old hat which sang of co-operation between the houses. Hannah went into Hufflepuff and was shortly joined by a Susan Bones. They seemed to be friends. First of the group of friends was Hermione, who sat on the stool for a long time, before it pronounced her,

"Slytherin!"

Neville Longbottom was also there for a long time, and was also sent into Slytherin.

"Are you related to Hector Dagworth-Granger?" asked one of the boys already sorted, a Vincent Crabbe.

"I have no idea," said Hermione. "But I've an affinity for potioneering, so it's not impossible there's a squib connection in my father's heritance. I'm more concerned about making a name for myself than worrying about relatives."

"We ain't never had no Longbottoms in Slytherin before," said Gregory Goyle.

"Maybe I'm needed to improve the all round level of intellect," said Neville, stung, and emboldened by Hermione.

"Wot?" said Goyle.

"He said you look and sound like a troll," said Hermione.

By this time Draco had joined them, and Goyle and Crabbe showed him signs of respect. Draco kissed Hermione formally on the cheek and nodded to Neville. House Malfoy accepted these two; and the watching Slytherin, including older ones, relaxed, and nodded to Hermione and Neville.

Toby came to put on the hat.

" _You could be in any of the houses, you know,_ " it said.

" _I know; and I want to improve Slytherin House_ ," thought Toby. " _But I'm not sure, you know, that taking people's wishes into account is necessarily a good idea or what's best for them. Ron Weasley, for example, might do better in the mannerly house of Hufflepuff, though it would be hilariously funny if he had to be a Slytherin_."

" _My goodness! What a shakeup there would be … and there are others already sorted who …. Well well, the founders' heir has an interesting idea_ ," said the hat. "Slytherin!"

Thomas followed his brother into Slytherin, presumably after Toby for his large age gap, and to Toby's wild delight, Ron Weasley was indeed sorted into Hufflepuff, and promptly lost them house points for wailing that he was a Gryffindor and not a Huffer-Duffer. The looks on the faces of Susan and Hannah suggested he was going to regret his outburst.

Blaise Zabini, to his evident surprise, was sent into Ravenclaw, but he shrugged and accepted this.

Toby sighed.

It was a pity his name was so late in the alphabet or he might have disrupted the expectations of others.

Toby had missed the headmaster's look of horror as Neville went into Slytherin, the slight sneer as Toby did so, and the look of incredulity at Thomas' name being called, but Hermione had missed neither, and proceeded to share this with her cohorts.

"Well, we know he wanted me to be his pawn to sacrifice," he said. Severus had been honest with the children before they started school.

"What do you mean?" asked Neville.

"Swear on friendship that you will keep this secret," said Toby.

"I swear on my magic," said Neville, getting out his wand. "Not that I have much to lose."

"T'uh, we'll see about that," said Toby, and proceeded to explain that he had been born Harry Potter, and that to protect him from Dumbledore, his Dad had jumped through a lot of hoops to make him Toby Snape.

Neville paled.

"Professor Dumbledore has been talking a lot to my gran that I am the Chosen One as Harry Potter is dead," he said, quietly. "She said 'stuff and nonsense' to him, but he gave me a filthy look when I came into Slytherin. I'm glad I'm not a Gryffindor pet, because I … I think he'd try to manipulate me."

"I bet," said Toby. "It's because of the other prophecy that burbles on about the child born as the seventh month dies whose parents have defied the dark lord three times will be marked by him as his equal and only one can survive the other."

"Sounds like tripe," agreed Neville, "But I was born as the seventh month died, and weren't you born in September? And what happened to the scar?"

"Only because the time turner made that possible," said Toby. "I died at the hands of my muggle relatives, and it killed the scar, which just healed. The goblins were very pleased, it was a bad curse that helped to keep the dark lord alive. I don't really understand it, Dad tried to simplify it, but he and Uncle Lucius have been killing Tom Riddle's hidden lives."

"Good," said Neville. "I'm awfully glad Mr. Malfoy is one of the good guys, but what about Mrs. Malfoy? Her sister …" he faltered, "Her sister tortured my parents with the cruciatus curse until they lost their minds."

The others were silent.

"That's bad," said Toby.

"I'm going to write to my parents," said Hermione, "And see if they can't get Uncle Sev to work with them and look into it with muggle brain scanning and techniques. Maybe a mix of muggle medicine and magic can do what hasn't been done before. They're looking into using laser treatment to burn out the dark mark on Uncle Sev and Uncle Lucius."

"Wow," said Neville. "I say, what about Nott? He looks awfully forlorn, are we going to let him into our group?"

"See how it goes, but be nice to him," said Toby. "Here are prefects to show us to dorms, and I guess the walrus is Professor Slughorn and I already don't like him. I got sudden memories of Uncle Vernon."

"I … don't really remember him," said Thomas. "Dad is more Dad."

Toby ruffled his younger brother's hair the wrong way affectionately. Dad was Dad.

Hermione made a face as a female prefect came to draw her off to go to the female dormitory with a pug-faced girl, a girl with heavy, sallow features and a curtain of thick dark hair, and an elegant girl who looked rather stuck up. Draco had muttered that they were called Pansy Parkinson, Millicent Bulstrode and Daphne Greengrasse and they were the sort of people whose parents his father was suppose to know.

"So you might be related to Hector Dagworth-Granger through a squib? Isn't your father sure?" asked Pansy.

Hermione shrugged.

"My father isn't a wizard," she said. It was not exactly a lie to let them assume her mother was a witch; so far as she knew, she was the first muggleborn in Slytherin House, and whilst she wanted to prove her ability, there seemed little point in being aggressive about being muggleborn, or mudblood as these girls were likely to put it, until she had done so. It would only lead to the sort of bullying she had received at primary school for being a swot, or worse.

"You're a half –blood?" said Daphne.

"Uncle Severus says that blood status is immaterial, because heritance works in a more complex way than the dim-witted dunderheads in the Ministry can possibly ever comprehend, even with wit-sharpening potions and a wand up their backsides," said Hermione.

Severus was known to the parents of these girls, and hence to them by reputation, if not personally, and as this was classic Severus, they made no comment bar chalking up the idea that Hermione's mother must be a relative of that notorious potions master. This was a good reason not to rag her for being a half-blood, since if she knew him well enough to refer to him casually as 'Uncle Sev', this meant that there were too many retaliatory potions she might be able to get hold of, which were utterly undetectable, if she felt herself under threat.

The three girls were very, very polite to Hermione.

The four boys decided to let Theodore Nott share their dormitory, and Theodore was duly grateful.

Professor Slughorn might have waxed pontifical about how nice to have a couple of dormitories with three and four boys each in it, but Draco and Toby firmly collected Theo and left Crabbe and Goyle to their own devices in the other first year boys' dorm.

There had been the pep-talk of what happens in Slytherin stays in Slytherin; and the admonition that as any of the other houses could have a go against stray Slytherin with impunity, they were to stay in groups to look out for each other. They intended to do so in any case.

 **Chapter 12**

"Well, my boys, Severus is quite secretive about his family," said Albus Dumbledore, to the two Snape boys, whom he had invited to his study. "Lemon drop?"

"No, thank you sir, sweeties are very bad for the teeth and the health," said Thomas, who had discovered dentistry books at Hermione's house and had been firmly cured of any final cravings for sweeties.

Both boys were keeping their eyes modestly averted; Severus had warned them that Albus was a legilimens who had no moral scruples at all about how much he pried.

"I knew Severus had one son," Albus tried again. "I hadn't heard he had discovered another. Who is your mother, Thomas, my boy?"

"Why, Mummy, of course," said Thomas. Juliet really was mummy.

"Oh? What's her name?"

"Snoggywoggy," said Toby, who had been exposed to Calvin and Hobbes by the Granger family. "But her real name is Juliet."

"Oh!" said Albus. "I had no idea your father was married."

"Oh yes," said Toby, airily. "I know you're not married sir, but you see when a mummy flower and a daddy flower love each other very much indeed, they can exchange pollen and make a seed. You need to have both a mummy and a daddy though, to make babies. Mummy explained it all to us."

Toby was quite enjoying himself.

Albus sat back.

Severus had found a witch with an illegitimate child, then, and had offered marriage in exchange for accepting his boy as hers too. Toby had plainly forgotten being in an orphanage, and Severus appeared to have picked a woman with a child enough like him in looks to pass as his son. Unless he had had some lover stashed away, hidden, and had failed to tell him about it. Dumbledore was hurt that Severus should conceal such a thing from him. But no, he was quite taken aback to have found out Petunia had had his child; it must be a business arrangement. Severus was too cold to truly love anyone, whatever he thought his infatuation for Lily Evans must be. Of course, if Thomas really was his child, he might have taken his revenge on Lily on some girl who looked like her, for the younger boy must be about the same age Harry must have been. Yes, of course, that would be it, and then when he found out about Toby, he had remembered the other and gone to offer her marriage to make some amends. That would be it. Poor woman! Well, if she and her children needed somewhere to come, he would be a haven for her and her children.

"Which house was your mother in?" he asked, trying to recall a Juliet.

The boys looked at each other and shrugged.

"Mummy didn't go to Hogwarts," said Toby.

"She's a muggle police officer," said Thomas.

"A muggle?" Dumbledore was shocked. Petunia Evans he could understand, but a random muggle?"

"Her gran was a squib," said Toby, quietly. "But blood status doesn't matter, does it?"

"No, of course not, my boy," said Albus, jovially. "Though of course your father never got on with his muggle father."

"He was a bully," said Toby. "But he must have had some good qualities or Daddy's mummy wouldn't have loved him. He was probably scared of magic; lots of muggles are."

"Very perspicacious of you, my boy," said Dumbledore. "I take it that your mother isn't scared of magic?"

"Of course not!" said Toby. "And she isn't so short of it that she can't manage potions, because she can."

"Indeed? Ah, no wonder your father married her, then," said Dumbledore. Toby almost burst out that Daddy had married her because she loved both of them, but that was none of the nasty old man's business.

"If you say so, sir," said Toby, tonelessly.

"You sound very like your father," said Dumbledore.

"Yes, sir," said Toby. "I am very like my father. I believe in fairness to all, regardless of house or blood status. I believe in freedom. I believe in fighting evil wherever I find it."

"And yet you joined Slytherin House, the house of Death Eaters?" Albus sneered.

"If it isn't the house of people determined to oppose Death Eaters than those people in it by accident will take the dark mark to protect themselves from those who are evil, like Daddy did to protect himself from bullies. Bullies you encouraged in order to isolate him and force him to take the dark mark so you could make him your tool. He told us how you operate, that you're only set on killing the dark lord so you can take his place, and that you arranged to have Harry Potter made weak enough to be killed by Tom Riddle so you could kill the weakened tyrant and be proclaimed ruler of all England whilst pretending to be light. We are here for an education, not to play your games old man."

Dumbledore was shocked.

"Is that what your father told you?"

"That's what our father believes," said Toby. "It's why he's hidden us under fidelius charm so you couldn't get at us."

"You are disrespectful; maybe I should expel you."

"Go ahead then, I'm sure the school board would love to hear your reasons. Uncle Lucius doesn't trust you any more than Daddy does," said Toby. "Daddy and Uncle Lucius have been putting together penseive memories about you, you know, to charge you with all the child abuse you got up to when they were with school, Mummy told them how to do it and how to catalogue abuse diaries. Daddy also says he thinks you knew that Harry Potter was a horcrux and you never did anything to have it removed, even though everyone knows the goblins have curse-breaking magic capable of destroying such things without damaging the vessel. You are a nasty old man!"

Dumbledore collapsed back into his chair.

"He has told you of such wicked things? Well that is abuse and I will see that you are placed into the care of a good, protective home away from such an evil man …"

Toby's anger had boiled up now.

"How dare you!" he roared, and Dumbledore, chair and all, was hurled across the room, half his moving devices on his desk flying into component parts. "Daddy had done his best to protect us from both dark lords, from Tom Riddle and from you! He had reservations about sending us here but he said it was our duty to protect the other children when Riddle came looking for Potter!"

Dumbledore tried to rise but found he could not. Thomas was sobbing hysterically as Minerva McGonagall burst into the room.

"Whit is going on here?" she demanded.

Toby drew himself up.

"I'd like to report attempted child abuse, please, ma'am," he said. "This evil wizard has been threatening us because he lost control of our father as his tool when he managed to get Harry Potter killed."

"Oh Albus, whit hae ye done noo?" demanded Minerva.

"What have I done? Minerva! You take the words of two lying little Slytherin over me?"

"Don't let him look in your eyes, Madam McGonagall, he's a legilimens and he plants compulsions!" said Toby. "Daddy had to undo all sorts of things!"

Minerva swept a swift look at the little boy. He was earnest and pleading and fighting back the tears his brother had succumbed to, snuggled up to the older of the two.

"Come with me," she said, and led them off to her own office. "Now, tell me what happened."

Toby reported the conversation.

"Och, a terrible thing it is for yer faither tae feel he had tae tell ye aboot horcruces," said Minerva, "But I ken fine weel he disnae believe in keeping people in the dark. It was a disgraceful business aboot puir wee Harry, and I dinnae ken hoo the headmaster kept his job … unless he did plant compulsions."

"Daddy could find any in you and remove them," said Toby.

"Floo him!" said Thomas, excited.

Minerva regarded them both, and turned to her floo.

Shortly afterwards, Severus walked through the flames.

"Daddy, see if she has compulsions!" cried Toby.

"Minerva?"

"I … yes, please check," said Minerva.

Severus led her through her memories, showing her how he disentangled the many-layered compulsions to trust Dumbledore utterly.

Minerva began swearing in Scots. She lapsed at times into Gaelic.

"Why that evil old coot!" she cried.

"That was more or less my feeling when I discovered he had leaned on me to set me up to be unpleasant to Harry Potter when he got to school, in memory of his father," said Severus. "You will observe his excessive favouring of those four bullies has been made trivial also in your thoughts of the time."

"Yes, and by his manipulations we have no-one to fulfil the prophecy, and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named will prevail," Minerva wrung her hands.

"Wrong, Minerva," said Severus. "Harry Potter died. Or rather the horcrux in him died. My lovely wife rescued the child who became Toby Snape and I hid him from Dumbledore so he could not mess with his head. Meet the object of prophecy, who is better prepared to handle dark wizards than a child who is cowed and beaten before he begins. He's too young, as yet, being only twelve, but when the time comes he will be ready – if he can complete his schooling without being interfered with. And I suggest you call the governors to tell them the head has been interfering with little boys."

"That sounds very different to what he has been doing."

Severus shrugged.

"If it gets him locked away so my sons are safe, I don't really care," he said. "Yes I do, people should be allowed to choose their own proclivities and his own choices do not extend to that particular betrayal of trust. Not a good precedent to set. But he betrays trust in every other respect."

"He does indeed," said Minerva, grimly.

"I brought you some mirror shades," said Severus. "I thought you might like a defence against his twinkling eyes."

"Thank you, Severus," said Minerva. "Och, d'ye think he knew that the dark lord had a horcrux?"

"Horcruces, plural, Minerva," said Severus, grimly. "Six of them. He's used one, and Lucius and I have destroyed four others, plus the one that was Harry. Because we haven't been sitting on our hands like Dumbledore who, I fancy, wanted to weaken his little tool with every encounter of every incarnation and kill the horcruces by having them used and someone else to take the danger until the last one."

"I cannot say that I think you wrong him," said Minerva. "I think we need aurors in here too."

 **Chapter 13**

The aurors arrived in time to discover Dumbledore trying to break through the hastily put up wards on Minerva's office door where two little boys were now sobbing hysterically in terror as Dumbledore could be heard to be threatening what he would do to their daddy when he caught up with him.

They stunned the old wizard and slipped on magic reducing hand cuffs and took him away, and Minerva went to reassure her terrified lions while her house elf brought milky coffee for the boys and whisky for Severus. Being Minerva it was a fine single malt whisky and Severus gave it the respect it deserved by sipping rather than tossing it off as he felt inclined to do.

He restored the boys to Slytherin house and had a word with Marcus Flint.

"I'm sorry I left you lot in your first year, Mr. Flint, I had to protect my sons," he said.

"I understand, sir, what's going on?" asked Flint.

"The headmaster has finally displayed his insanity in his attempts to hurt me through my sons," said Severus. "Be a good chap and keep an eye on them, will you, Flint? I know you're not daft enough to have been dragged into the Death Eater camp."

"No sir, though it's been hard."

"I know," said Severus.

He returned to Minerva's office, whence she summoned the other house heads for Severus to check for compulsions. Slughorn refused in high dudgeon and stalked off, wobbling enough to spoil the picture of outraged dignity.

"Dumbledore wouldn't bother with him anyway, I don't think," said Severus.

Filius and Pomona were indignant to find similar compulsions to trust Dumbledore implicitly and were more than willing to tell aurors all about it.

"I don't suppose any of the other staff …" said Minerva.

"I'll stay to dinner," said Severus. "Anyone going on about how wonderful the headmaster is will be suspect."

In the event, it was not the defence of Dumbledore which caused the trouble, but the pain in Severus' arm when he laid eyes upon the beturbanned figure of Quirinius Quirrel.

 _Ssssss What's this? Sssssss_ hissed Severus.

 _Sssss you have become a speaker? Ssssss_ it came from the back of Quirrel's head, and Severus had his wand out.

The school was treated to the spectacle of a running duel in which the back of Quirrel's head suddenly had a face under the turban, which was casting Unforgiveables at the dark man who was a guest to dinner. And with the other teachers, Quirrel's body soon died and the smoky figure of the one time dark lord left it.

"FUCK" said Severus.

"Severus! In front of the children!" said Minerva.

"We've missed one," said Severus, "He has a horcrux we missed; he must have made eight.

"And maybe the one he made in a human host was accidental, forbye," said Minerva.

Severus brightened.

"He hasn't a drop of Chinese blood so that makes it unlucky to have eight parts," he said. "Unless he makes more, what he has is what is left."

It was a dramatic start to the school year, the headmaster arrested and dragged off, and subsequently confined, in magic-binding unremovable jewellery, in the Janus Thickey ward and the dark arts teacher turning out to be Voldemort playing at being a rucksack-plushy, as Hermione put it.

oOoOoO

Nobody went looking for a philosopher's stone that year, and nobody woke up the basilisk the year after. No dementors were set loose in the third year because Sirius Black was a free man, trying to put his life back together without his godson. Nobody bothered to enlighten him, because nobody liked him enough, apart from Remus Lupin who was not in the secret. Minerva turned down the stupid notion of the Triwizard competition in the fourth year, backed by the governors, so there was no rebirth ceremony at Little Hangleton, especially since Sirius Black had managed to ingratiate himself with the Weasleys and had, in dog form, managed to eat a certain rat, to the distress of Ronald Weasley when he could not find his familiar, but of no great moment to anyone else, except the healers in St Mungos who could not imagine what Mr. Black had eaten that made him so ill.

The Snape gang, for want of a better name for them, fought the children of death eaters in Slytherin house and protected those who wanted protection, and sat hard on any bullying from any house. The taking of points became fairer, and Severus advised Minerva to contact the muggle born on their tenth birthdays to have lessons in penmanship and in the etiquette of the wizarding world, to restore what Dumbledore had almost torn apart. When Bathilda Bagshot's tales of the young Dumbledore and his family emerged, it was plain to everyone that Dumbledore's pretended partisanship towards muggleborn wizards and witches was in fact a plot to punish them and their muggle parents, in having muggles made more hateful for not knowing how to cope with wizarding society. His father's acts of violence had been shocking and unsubtle but his had been more damaging.

When it emerged that Hermione was muggleborn, her fellow Slytherin were far too used to obeying her to give up, and she was, moreover, as skilled as they at etiquette which was most of the argument against muggleborn. Pansy's father wanted to get out of being a Death Eater, and Millicent wanted to escape her death eater family, as did Theo Nott. Daphne's family were firmly neutral, and as Draco said, the only thing you got for being neutral when push came to shove was which side pushed and which side shoved. Crabbe and Goyle, unable to spell the word 'ethics' and believing it to be a county to the right of London and above Kent, were negligible problems.

When Voldemort finally managed to get hold of a body of sorts, Lucius and Severus knew exactly where to find him, and Toby was old enough and confident enough to defeat his old nemesis without too much trouble while his friends dealt with the few death eaters who followed the summons. It was scarcely worthy of a line in the Daily Prophet.

* The police cars of the time were white with a red and thinner blue line around the middle, suggesting jam between two slices of white bread. Hence known as Jam Sandwiches, replacing the affectionately named 'Panda Cars'.

** Scenes of Crime Officers; what we Brits call our CSIs


End file.
